Canidae Pet Foods Reviews

I defended Canidae, as I had fed for over 4 years with no issue. (Come to find out, there was a formula change that I did NOT know about!!) I called other breeders who fed the food to see if there were any crystal problems with their dogs and found out all this other info that other pets are experiencing. Meanwhile, in the fall my puppy was weaned onto Canidae from Eukanuba puppy and had 3 grand mal seizures within 2 months (requiring a visit to the neurologist); ALL 5 dogs were having central nervous tremors/vibrating a few weeks prior to his seizures, so we were suspecting a toxin and/or change in the environment.

After reading other pets' problems with tremors and crystals and suspecting finally I might have my answers to my pet's health problems. I called Canidae and got a return phone call telling me that my dogs’ problems could not be caused by the food. They only added vegetables and kept treating this as a single dog problem. I had to remind her of ALL 5 dogs’ issues. AFTER I told her I was a vet tech, she told me I could FAX my records to be forwarded to their vet on staff. I did fax them and have had no response.

My dogs are NOT eating Canidae now; all 4 vets who have seen my dogs are highly suspicious of the timing of all the problems and have said food can have toxins or create bad urinary health. My neurologist tells me that we won't know if the puppy or other dogs will have permanent CNS damage as we can't test for what we don't know; and maybe the toxins might pass out in 3-4 weeks. Funny how the dogs that were on the sd or cd prescription diets to dissolve the crystals did not have tremors or vomiting and now the others or off Canidae; the tremors have stopped.

We are still doing testing on the urinary issues and have one more ultrasound to go on my senior dog to recheck the bladder/prostate infection. I am passing the word on to everyone I see at dog shows and hopefully other pets will not have to suffer. My expenses are OVER $2,000 for rx, lab work and specialists, etc. and that is with my 50% staff discount. And all along, it was my precious Canidae!!

I am very disappointed to learn that many dogs got food allergy symptoms after eating Canidae Food. I thought that it was a great product but I will have to stop feeding my dog because of the reaction it is causing her. I am starting to question the quality of Canidae and most of all the ingredients. Thank you for listening and hopefully I will get answers from that situation. I want to know if Canidae is under investigation for all the dogs that got allergies by eating their food.

I noticed the dog not eating daily and having problems with her bottom, licking and thought maybe it was worms. I took a sample to the vet 12/10, first checked for worms, $31.01, and none found. Expressed anal glands and found blood in one infected, medication $28.49. I didn't do anything different, only changed her food once from the lamb to chicken in December. For 2 years she has eaten the lamb. Had to go back to the Vet, Jan 14th, express $12.69, the other was infected and more blood came out. The doctor gave her more meds, had to leave her there to have the anal glands flushed and $228.00 later, with a higher dosage of antibiotic, I am maxed on my charge card.

I heard that Canidae changed their formula and never told anyone so I didn't pay attention to changes. I purchased the 30-lb bag which lasts me two months. I still have two feedings left that I didn't give her as I was told to switch her food to another brand and stop Canidae immediately. The upc code is: 6 4046101130 8. We never had any problems prior to feeding her this new bag of Chicken Meal and Rice.

I would like to know if you can check into this for me because I'd like a refund on my dr. bills credited to my Visa and for the food that made her sick. I didn't feed her one evening after being told to stop the food and gave her just rice and chicken the following day, I began small amounts of the new food as I couldn't add the old to the new as it created her to be ill. She didn't want to play, laid around and slept. She ran a low grade temp, I think. Since I have changed her food I see a difference in her personality. She wants to play again and is acting normal.

I would like the company, not my place of purchase to refund my money if this UPC code is the one that they did not inform their customers of a change, or is outdated. My dog has been on the Lamb and Rice meal for two years now and never had an issue until the Chicken meal. I'm sure the store of my purchase has no idea either that the food was changed without anyone knowing. I have not bothered them with this until I speak to someone and am starting here before I call Canidae. I don't know what to do next. Thank you.

The point of me telling all of you this is. If you are taking the time to tell people what happened to your dog after eating Canidae dog food, take the time to talk to an attorney. It doesn't cost you anything but a few seconds of your time. Maybe one of you out there has a bag of food that can put Canidae out of business, then no more dogs will get sick and or die. PLEASE DO NOT click on the box that says I do NOT want an attorney to contact me about my complaint. Take a few seconds and maybe you could be the person to stop the sickness. Thank You.

Same problems as previously listed. GI problems, skin allergies... even blew their coats inside of three weeks from ingesting. Sadly, what I TRUSTED to be a nutritious and SAFE food. Nothing could be further than the truth. I notified the company of my situation and received NO RESPONSE. Perhaps companies like Canidae and that salmonella infested peanut factory... will be brought to justice under the new administration as they've promised an overhaul of the FDA. The current AAFCO is a joke...as it's owned and funded by the pet food companies themselves! That is the very impartial "group" that oversees pet nutrition and feeding guidelines.

AAFCO is on EVERY commercial bay of pet food to make it look official. It is NOT. After the last pet food scare... I was forced to to days of research and watch the senate sub-commitee hearings on the illness and death of so many of our beloved companion animals. Senator Dick Durbin D Illinois was committee chairman. The senator exposed the pet food industry single-handedly. Email him and tell him of YOUR experience. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Let's document and publish ALL our experiences with Canidae and ANY other pet food company who thinks that they are above the law. THEY ARE NOT. WE CAN MAKE A CHANGE.

In the meantime...research your pet food choices CAREFULLY. Most grocery store brands are owned by the major food manufacturers and the food is "not fit for human consumption" trash that didn't make it into our food supply...just into our beloved pets. RESEARCH. It is true... Knowledge is liberating and VERY powerful. Thanks for your time and be well.

We got a new bag in December and since then, these problems have all begun. We decided to stop giving her Canidae Dog Food this week and feed her chicken and rice, or beef and potatoes and she has not vomited in several days now. I am concerned there is a problem with the Canidae dog food we bought which has BEST BEFORE 26 JU- 09 on the bag. Until one month ago, my dog was very healthy, strong and vibrant. Even though she has stopped vomiting, she is still quite ill, and weak. I am praying, that with time my wonderful, healthy dog will return to us.

Over the course of 1 40 pound bag, she was losing weight; coat was dimming in color, she looked sad all the time, and was having anal gland problems. We brought her to the vet throughout this time period and had her tested for worms, etc. Everything came back normal. We changed her diet gradually to another holistic Wellness diet, and she continued to be sick. After 3 switched of food, she was not better. One day, she had an accident in the house, and it had NO odor whatsoever. When I scooped it up into a baggie, I realized it was very heavy and mostly undigested food.

I brought her back to the vet, and they again tried to switch her food to a Core diet of all protein and veggie, no grain, as they thought perhaps it was a grain allergy. I insisted on a malabsorption test as I truly believed that she was not digesting any food. They did not think this was the case, but ran the $200 test, and found that indeed, her pancreas was not functioning. She is now on Pancrease which assists her in digesting her food, and is doing great. She has gained back almost all her weight, and is content again with normal stools and appetite.

I truly believe that the formula in Canidae caused her pancreas to shut down and somehow poisoned it. The blogs show most dogs have similar stools and issues. I would implore you to also get your dogs tested for malabsorption syndrome, as it is rarely if ever seen in a young dog such as mine. Hopefully, her pancreas will rejuvenate, but if it does not, she will be on this medicine for the rest of her life.

After over $600 at the vet, FortifFora, antibiotics, same story as many here, someone told me to visit this site. Yikes! It's the Canidae! I called them, but they gave me that slow transition to the new formula song and dance. Forget it. We switched to Taste of the Wild dry kibble with Natural Balance Tube soft food twice daily and it put the doodle back in our Labra. She is much better. Shame on Canidae for not admitting their error - like I said, when I called them - if it ain't broken, don't fix it! Why would you change your formula??

I never thought the dog food that we pay dearly for & trusted to be top quality would be the cause. I even recommend this product to friends & family. The other night I, for some reason, searched complaints on Canidae dog foods and found this site. She goes to the vet, 1/15/08. I wrote Canidae prior to finding this information so we will just see what they have to say to me!! Last night, I bought a bag of Science Diet Nature's Best. So far she has had 2 small feedings and made it through the whole night without vomiting!!!

In October 2008, I went ahead and purchased a bag of the new Canidae, and over the course of one month, I changed my Boxer over to a diet of only the new formula, by mixing the new Canidae in with her remaining old Canidae slowly. Unfortunately, her health has slowly deteriorated since October. I only hope now that my boxer's health problems are reversible, but that has yet to be seen. My boxer's symptoms, like many, began with vomiting and gas, tendency to chew her feet, and an overall lethargic/uncomfortable look to her. I attributed this all to her sensitive stomach issues, although never to the Canidae directly. She would temporarily be put on a diet of chicken and rice or Prescription I/D until her stomach would even out, then back to the new Canidae we would go. We have repeated this cycle for the past 3 months.

Approx. one month ago, however, my Boxer simply refused to eat anymore of the Canidae. To know my dog is to know this is a significant finding, as my boxer is perhaps one of the most food driven dogs I have ever met, and she never misses a chance for a meal. A visit to the vet, 4 days worth of Cerenia (anti-nausea med), and we were back to eating the Canidae again. Never once did I doubt the quality of her dog food, nor did my vet. However, after the Cerenia wore off, complete refusal to eat the Canidae once more. Because her symptoms were so severe, and by this point she has lost a significant portion of weight, my vet worried that there may be some other underlying condition.

The following were performed: complete blood work-up, analysis of kidney function, analysis of liver function, x-rays, and sonograms. Everything appeared 'normal', my boxer was placed on Cerenia once more as well as an antibiotic. It was only after further weight loss and refusal of Canidae one again after completion of the Cerenia, that I began to question the quality of her food and spent some time online noticing that many others have had similar problems. My Boxer has now been on a prescription diet for 12 days. Although she no longer refuses food, she still is lacking that spring in her step. Since I continued to feed her the new Canidae for approx. 3 months despite the various symptoms that were present, I'm afraid this has had a lasting impact on her health.

Now that the connection between the decline in her health and the change in her food formulation has been made, and in light of the many other complaints, we are headed back to the vet for further testing. I am keeping my fingers crossed at this time that her current state is simply due to a very troubled digestive system from this new formula and nothing further, and that this is hopefully reversible, at least in time. Perhaps eventually she will return to her bubbly Boxer self after a complete switch in diet.

I simply cannot express how disappointed I am in this company, and the embarrassment I feel for speaking so highly of, and recommending, this company for so many years. The timing in health issues and the change in food for my dog is too coincidental for my tastes, and my dog will never be fed this food again. Like many others, I wonder why they decided to change a product that so many already loved? I would have paid a higher price for the same formulation any day, to ensure my pet's continued health.

When I called Canidae in February of 2008, they totally denied any formula changes and now they are claiming they had a formula change?? How does this work? Please pass the word to feed stores, vets, breeders and friends. I have already turned over 5 breeders off of this food and intend to keep passing the word. It takes a certain type company with certain types of individuals working for them to produce such a product.

However, I think now that it was a godsend because we had to feed them different foods half the time. In addition, all dogs were eating Eukanuba Fish & Potato dry dog food because our older dog had a food allergy. In February of 2008, the puppies were spayed and neutered. At that time we switched to Canidae exclusively as I found a store that could order it by the case for us. We also ran out of Eukanuba and switched to Canidae dry. At this same time a friend gave us a decorative candy bowl. Our older dog was often lying in front of the main water bowl and often the pups couldn't get to it, so I decided to just fill up this other bowl and put it in a different location.

I noticed that during recovery, one of the pups (the male) wasn't feeling well. I took him into the vet and his incision had become infected. They put him on antibiotics, etc. and said he should have a speedy recovery. Then I noticed that our older dog wasn't feeling well. His symptoms were the same as the puppy. Complete lassitude, lack of energy and a worried look on their faces. The other puppy (female) was feeling fine. The male pup's infection cleared up, but still he and the older dog were still not feeling well. They were not throwing up, but just obviously were feeling ill.

All of a sudden, I thought of two facts - we were feeding Canidae exclusively now and we were using that new bowl. I thought, what if the new bowl has lead? So, not knowing which was causing the problem, if any, I decided to throw out both the bowl and the Canidae - and both dogs recovered immediately! So, to this day, I don't know, but I will never touch another can of Canidae just to be safe. Perhaps unfair to Canidae and it could have been the bowl, but I need to keep my dogs safe.

Dolly has not had much of an appetite lately for her kibble, although she still eats fresh fruit and carrots and other healthy treats. But her gastric distress was so pronounced and prolonged a few days ago that we took her to the vet. A mass was found near her spleen, and she is having surgery on January 10. Several vets have told us they think it is benign, since she is so young, but we are terrified. I have no doubt that Canidae's new formula is poison and it has sickened my dog, perhaps fatally. She was examined in July 2008, and there was no evidence of a mass then. But this week, the vet felt it during the exam. Obviously it grew quickly and aggressively.

The money we will be spending is considerable, especially as my husband recently lost his job. But we will gladly spend it to hopefully restore our little girl to health. You may be wondering why our other dog is fine, since he also eats Canidae. He's also a very picky eater, and he has essentially refused to eat his kibble the last few months. He eats mostly Halo soft food, and has none of the problems our other dog currently suffers from.

Going back, I can see that the problems began a few months ago, but I just assumed Dolly was eating too varied a diet. She was also overweight, and we started limiting her food. I assumed her recent weight loss was due to that, but now realize it all happened too quickly. I am so angry at myself for not realizing that the Canidae was causing her problems, and should have taken her to the vet sooner. But she seemed mostly fine until just this week.

I pray that we have caught this mass in time, and that it's not cancer. I'll never forgive myself if she dies, and we could have prevented it by doing something as simple as switching her food. I have kept a sample from the last bag of Canidae, and the bag itself. We are going to look into having it tested. I am also interested in pursuing a class action lawsuit. It's not the money - it's the principle. Canidae needs to be punished for this.

I took him to the vet and they found low phosphorus and iodized calcium. On a gut feeling, I started to research his food and found similar complaints. Immediately I switched their food and the vomiting and loose stool stopped within days. No seizures since and the blood work has started to normalize. This food could have killed my dogs and I am ashamed of a company that once could pride itself on being a top-rated human grade food. Furthermore, when I realized they switched manufacturing to Diamond, I was astounded. Diamond Pet Food made my dog sick when he was a puppy and I later found out their food was killing pets. I have spent $400 on veterinary bills so far and will need further testing. This has been a very emotional experience for me and a traumatic physical experience for my dogs.

Then the vet tried a stomach medication to try to stop her perpetual diarrhea and it included an antibiotic as well as a substance to try to firm her up. Once we knew she had been hit the hardest, we followed all the dogs when they were taken out to do their business and I saw that the other two were also very soft yellow slimy stools almost as bad as the third one being treated. Another trip to the vet who suggested we switch brands of dog food and suggested one of his brands, which I knew to be inferior, so I declined and went home to research dog foods. I put in Canidae dog food customer reviews and was floored to find what looked like my own diary of digestive problems described exactly as what we have been going through from the color and consistency of the soft or watery stools to the frequency of the carpet cleaners on perfectly house trained dogs and the vet expenses.

The worst is that switching dog food for the worst one is not helping and I have had to return the new dog food to the store. I now have to cook chicken and rice and give her even more medications to try to get rid of what seems to be permanent damage because of this dog food. The latest trip cost over 250.00 for a full kidney, liver, thyroid and red and white cell check. All came out normal but she was found to have no bacteria in her intestines, good or bad, possibly due to antibiotics she shouldn't have had to take to begin with had Canidae not pulled this fast one and switched their formula with no warning.

My Holistic dog food store assured me they had not been informed, nor was there any warning on the package. Of course the price had gone up and the weight had gone down which is an economic stunt companies pull, but to add 18 new ingredients, and I read Millet was one of them which most dogs are allergic to was unconscionable. I can only continue this expensive vet schedule and try to get her back to normal. The other two cleared up after switching the food, but she appears to have suffered possibly permanent damage. And the Canidae company seems perfectly content to blame their customers and suggest all these expensive vet bills for a problem THEY created.

Updated on 01/18/2009: Update on my dog who was sick from Canidae new formula dog food, for people who need to help their sick dogs who are also on the dog food. For those of you who are at your wits' end, as we were, here is what finally fixed our dog. After erroneously treating her for worms and then giving us Albon which was supposed to be an antibiotic and a stool hardener, she appeared to be doing better on that Albon, but since we were still giving her the Canidae dog food, having no idea it could possibly be the expensive food, she got worse.

Took her to another vet who found NO bacteria at all in her intestinal tract, could have been the Albon killed everything. So he put her on 30 days supply of FortiFlora to mix into her chicken and rice (we could not give her any dog food at this point and were cooking for her) and after three days of that (no change), I called them and they said to add the Tylosin powder (which works in conjunction with the FortiFlora).

The FortiFlora adds bacteria back into the dogs stomach much like yogurt and acidophilus milk does with people. The Tylosin powder kills any bad intestinal infection and leaves the good bacteria alone. On the third day, we picked that up and that night she had her first normal looking stool. We continued that routine for 10 days, chicken and rice cooked for her, then the FortiFlora and then the Tylosin all added to her food, plus a little vitamin powder to give her what she was missing with her lack of regular dog food. After ten days and seeing her begin to have normal stools, we gradually added Innova dog food, a proven good food that all three dogs did well on, and little by little gave less chicken and rice and more dog food.

Finally, we are seeing a normal dog stool every time for over a week now. We can only pray that this will continue and she will get back to her normal self and eat the great Innova dog food and not need the home-cooked versions she has been given. She was also very happy to see the crunchy dog food which I'm sure was necessary to add some bulk for the stools. If you are having problems with the Canidae and your dogs aren't getting better, this might work for you. Please post if you try it and it works. I am cautiously optimistic that we may be getting back to normal. Canidae needs to be sued and we should contact every dog and pet website, including the ASPCA and get the word out to others who have no idea why their pets are sick after being on this dog food for years. The first order of business is relieving the animals' suffering. Then...SUE.

The vet thought that they had probably gotten into something outside, such as a mouse. We had them on antibiotics and anti-diarrheal medications for a week, which seemed to help. Our dogs had horrific smelling gas and burps, and we noticed them losing weight and having to go outside much more frequently. They were still having awful diarrhea, even trouble with having bowel movements- a lot of straining!! On New Year’s night our male had bright red blood covering his entire back side and was bobbing and shaking his head, displaying seizure like activity. The emergency veterinarian told us that he had ingested rat poison, which is ABSURD!! We have no rat poison around our home!! His stomach and intestines were completely full, bloated and stretched!!!

I am totally not a computer person by any means, but for some reason I decided to look up Canidae on-line. My heart stopped when I saw this website!! I cannot believe the testimonials of all these people who have gone through exactly what we are right now!!! Dogs are becoming extremely ill left and right and DYING!! How can this POISON still be on the shelves???!!!! My dogs were completely healthy before this supposed all natural junk entered their bodies and has eaten away their stomachs for weeks!!! This is just sickening!! I will NEVER feed my beloved pets Canidae ever again!! Despite the hundreds of dollars in vet bills, including the six hundred dollar emergency holiday charge we've spent, the point is that something needs to be done! Families are suffering from the loss and illness of their precious animals. No other family should have to go through this horrifying experience!

After four weeks I took her off lamb and rice and moved her back to chicken and rice. At the time, I thought it was just particular to my dog, but after finding this website today I am positive it was the food change as I am extraordinarily aware of what my dog ingests during mealtime and otherwise. Additionally, the food was large kibble unlike the older formula. I am furious that the positive changes noted by the company has resulted in all these complaints and at the possibility that my dog could have sustained longstanding health complications due to a food brand I had been shelling out my hard earned money for.

I am switching brands as of this afternoon. If you have had success with Canidae's new formula, then that is fantastic. But if your dog has had difficulties around the time you have purchased the new food formula and not much else in their diet has changed, please be aware and act immediately.

When the 12 year old Golden starting showing symptoms of slowing down less than a month after our Dalmatian died, we attributed it to her age as well. The fact that she had a tumor removed less than a year prior led the Vet to examine her stomach area and she believed she felt multiple tumors. It had been two days since she ate or drank anything, so the Vet took her for x-rays and confirmed the diagnosis. The fact that she was getting sick on her food and throwing up yellow mucus was mentioned to the Vet, but since cancer was presumably the culprit, there was no reason to look elsewhere. Pets age and that was an acceptable fact (so far).

However, when our black lab (on thyroid medicine & slightly overweight) began either coughing, clearing her throat, or sneezing, we again called the Vet. She said she seemed to be getting over a slight case of bronchitis but didn't see any real problem. A week later, we called again because even though the cough was slightly better, our dog wasn't eating right and we were worried. The Vet came out and took blood but was of the opinion we were looking again at a diagnosis of cancer. Somehow, I think we all should have had the hairs on the backs of our necks raised this time, but the Vet didn't seem alarmed, knowing the physical problems this dog had and again, for the third time in 3 months, we had to put another pet to sleep.

The reason I logged onto this website tonight is that we came home from dinner this evening and one of our English Setters (7 years old) who has had diarrhea for 2 days came up to me very slowly walking in a way I've never seen a dog walk before (like his body was rigid in either a spasm or like one gets with gas buildup). He normally would run out to greet us and go right to the door to be let outside, but tonight, he even looked crooked as he inched his way to us. We rubbed his belly and found it to be very hard, but it seemed to help and he did go outside.

All seems OK now, but the hairs did go up on my neck this time. This dog is not old and has been healthy as a horse since we've had him, so why, for two days, has he had the runs and what was that stiffness in his body due to tonight???? Maybe he woke up stiff from laying funny, but I'm not going to lose another dog and I am getting this dog food analyzed to see what's up!

After seeing all the comments here, I wish I had checked a month ago when our black lab got her cough, but 2 and 2 didn't make 4 until tonight! I can't imagine what the Vet bills were for my daughter and her boyfriend for all the animals they treated and lost, but I will have her get her receipts tallied. She not only lost 3 dogs and has one sick right now, but she also lost her father in November 2008, good riddance! The food is going back and I hope a class action suit is brought up against the dog food company because this is WRONG!!!! How many more dogs are going to get sick and die because of greed by corporate suits? How many more of man's best friend will we lose before someone does something to stop the sale of Canidae dog food?

When I called our local pet store (smaller family owned store) to order some additional food in mid September 2008, the owner did tell me that they did not get their regular shipment of the food that week. She told me that apparently the company was changing the size of the bags & increasing the price a little. She assumed that this was the reason for the shipment delay. When I told her that I wanted to try my boys on the ALS, she gave me several sample bags and advised me that some dogs will have more problems with the lamb formula than the chicken. Although I took all of the samples she gave me, I didn't even give my dogs the lamb recipe as I didn't want to even chance their not being able to tolerate the food and getting sick.

When I opened the first bag of the food, I noticed that it was different than the Platinum that I had been feeding them in both color and smell, but I didn't think too much about it since I was switching foods within the brand. Since switching to the new food, on 2-3 occasions, our 8yo has vomited a small amount of foamy, yellowish looking bile. Although it was odd for him to do, I never attributed it to his food. I also noticed that he licks his paws constantly. Probably the biggest change that I noticed was that our 7yo has developed a terrible case of smelly, odorous gas. They both have also lost more weight which seemed unusual to be as I expected a small weight gain when I switched them from the Platinum. Our 1yo is just finishing up with his last bag of Bil-Jac Puppy food after which I had planned to start him too on the Canidae.

My sister who lives in Charlotte and has 5 shelties (and who initially recommended the Canidae) called me last night to inform me of the problems with the Canidae since the formula change & warn me not to feed it to our dogs as her dogs are experiencing problems with the food. We were totally unaware that there had even been a formula change.

After reading many of the stories of other users on the web, my husband and I are absolutely outraged! To think that a company can be allowed to operate this way and continue to sell this dog food to unsuspecting customers is appalling. We are now forced with trying to find an open pet store on New Year’s Day to find a new food to buy our dogs so they'll have something decent to eat tonight. My husband has packaged the Canidae back up and intends on having the food analyzed to determine exactly what is in the food that is making all of these dogs so sick. I also plan on calling both our local pet store and our vet and letting them know about the problems that have been experienced with this product.

After about two months (following the ingredient change) she suddenly began vomiting yellow bile, losing weight, and becoming very lethargic. The vet asked the standard questions regarding possible poisoning, change in diet, etc. $1500 later, liver malfunction was diagnosed as the problem. We immediately put her on the vet-recommended food (non-Canidae) to ease digestion issues, and medication to help heal the damage to the liver. She gained weight, and a blood test showed her liver functions began to improve slightly. However, she continued to lose muscle mass and seemed somewhat restless. We just returned from the vet today (Dec 31, 08) after a follow-up blood test and check-up, and found the liver functions heading back down. I'm not sure it was the Canidae, but after reading so many similar events, it certainly seems likely. At 14 (or any age) liver problems will most likely be fatal, and there is nothing that can be done now. However, if the cause is related to something in the food and enough people speak up, perhaps we can save other dogs.

Finally, exploratory surgery had to be performed in case there was a bowel obstruction related to something she might have swallowed or a tumor. The surgery found nothing other than a highly irritated stomach and bowel. Three biopsy samples were taken. The lab results were negative for cancer on all three samples. The dog still cannot ingest food so we are having to force feed her (not Canidae!). She is also on a regimen of antibiotics, stomach antacids, pain killers, etc. Since nothing had changed in the dog's life (other than the food), I suspect the Canidae food (for whatever reason) triggered this illness. All of the dog's blood work has been perfect. We have sustained several thousand dollars of veterinary expenses in the last ten days due to this event. We are still not sure whether the dog is going to recuperate.

As she appeared to be putting a little bit of weight back on I switched her back to the Canidae. I opened up a new bag just a few days ago and noticed the change in appearance. Molly has always loved to eat so like any other time, she gobbled it right up. That was about 5 days ago...since then she's suffered from 5 grand mal seizures!!! I can't help but believe that the formula change is the cause!!! It's heartbreaking to watch beloved family member suffer!

Molly has an appointment to see the vet in 2 days. Our vet has instructed us on what to watch for in case she needs immediate medical attention. As a responsible pet owner I thought I was feeding her a quality product. I truly believe that if you feed your dog quality products, along with proper exercise, etc., they can help your pet live a long, happy, healthy life.

To be totally honest, my husband and I are not in a financial situation that will allow us to spend thousands or even hundreds of dollars on our Molly....It brings me to tears to think of what might happen to Molly. My husband and I along with our 2 young children adore our beloved pet. I only hope and pray that we are able to afford her medical care. It sickens me to think that the food that I've been feeding her may have caused all this!!!

We called the Pet Store, they told us about the change but covered their story with they didn't know until now. The Canidae Representative called us and send a few coupons out for more bags of food. Things calmed down once we were on the New bags of Canidae. We did notice a new thing though, itching. We bathed and treated for everything but the food, never did we think the Food was the culprit!

Then this past November one of our older Collies, a very stable girl of 9 who always ate well stopped eating. No matter what we tried that day, she would not eat. We took her to the Vet and was SHOCKED to watch this lovely girl decline right in front of us on the Vet's table. The Vet asked if she had ingested some sort of poison. POISON I thought, NO WAY, we are 1,000% safety around here and there aren't any poisons.

Once the blood tests came back, the Vet had horrible news, Maddie was dying of possible Liver Cancer and the most human thing would be to put her down! My husband and I were in shock. How can this be? She was just frolicking with the Shelties not three days earlier. The whites of her eyes are yellow, her skin was yellow. In less than 48 hours Maddie is gone and not until I found this site and read some of the people's stories did I ever think ... Canidae ... but now!

None of my dogs (three Shelties and a Great Pyr) have had issues with the change at all. Now, this is not saying that some dogs will NOT have issues - but this can happen with any product. Also in regards to bugs being found in food, the FDA permits a certain number of insects and rodent bits in all foods: pet and human. Not many consumers know this. If you get a bag that the bits happen to be eggs, guess what? Also small insects can get into tiny holes in bags while at warehouses or stores. Canidae also has released new formulas that are grain free.

I have fed Canidae before and after the change and have had no issues with my dogs ranging in age from 1 - 8 1/2 years. I have had far more issues with other brands of dog food that did not make changes public until people started label reading. It is not Canidae's fault that places that they sent alerts to did not inform the public. Consumers need to be more savvy and willing to do research of their own.

With millions of dogs in the US - some will react to the changes in formulas, but many will not. As for bugs in food, well, talk to the FDA - they set the regulations. I have found flies in bags of pet seed, etc. I have found bugs in cereal boxes in sealed bags. As for contaminated food, then yes, this I will hold a company accountable for IF the contamination is their fault. Contamination can also happen through improper storage at warehouses. It can happen at the stores. A bag that gets damp and then allowed to dry out can result in contaminated food. Just yesterday, I was watching a couple store employees going through cans of cat food because there was an odd odor and it was suspected a can seal was broken. This could have happened in shipping, storage, packing at the plant or some customer's kids playing with can tabs or the plastic film on some containers and cracking the seal.

Yes, we need to jump on the bandwagon but we also have to do so with education and logical thought. Jumping blindly is not the way to go and can cause more harm than good in the long run. However, if an issue has been attributed directly to the food and proven that it happened with the company and some other factor once the product leaves the building, then they have to be accountable.

I have had issues in the past with illness in animals due to formula changes and absolutely NO public notice by the company. But Canidae tried to alert. I know people who lost animals due to formula changes that companies denied (though later admitted after pressure). I read labels to check for changes. I keep track of sites. I know the various ways contamination can happen and the FDA rules regarding bugs. We have to be educated consumers.

During the fall, we noticed her having a lot of foul gas. She was also having more frequent bowel movements and seemed to be straining at times. She vomited a couple of times right after eating and on two occasions I found odd, yellow, frothy vomit in her pen in the late afternoon. At no time was I ever informed of a change in her food. As a result, I never questioned her food even though I noticed a slight change in the kibble. I assumed that some of her symptoms were due to being a Lab and possible seasonal allergies. That all changed dramatically for us on Nov. 21st. I took her to the vet immediately when she got up one morning with excessive drinking and refused to eat.

I was shocked when I was called in the afternoon and told that her condition was very serious and that her blood calcium levels were very high. Her vet initially suspected that she had ingested a toxin and most likely had vitamin D toxicity due to rat poison. We never had anything like that at our home and our dog was constantly supervised. She was hospitalized for that possible condition for four days and appeared to be recovering. During that time, she was switched to another food and her symptoms immediately disappeared. Her coat became soft and silky. The scratching stopped and there were no more gastrointestinal issues.

Unfortunately, that is not the end of our story. As a precaution, she was also tested for the possibility of cancer. One test came back positive and we continued to do further testing, which was initially inconclusive. However, within a couple of weeks, she did develop the symptoms of lymphoma which led to her death yesterday. She was an expensive, well-bred hunting dog with nothing like this in her lineage. We will probably never know what part nutrition played in the development of her illness. I do know, though, that as a consumer I was not made aware of any change in her food, which I resent. If I had known, I would have had the opportunity to make a change when I saw some of the symptoms being attributed to Canidae.

I became aware of this website when I googled Canidae after our vet suspected that she had ingested a rodent poison. I remembered that I had opened a bag a couple of months ago and found a dead mouse in it. I was shocked to find hundreds of similar complaints. I have been in contact with the company and ideally, would like to have the food sample that I saved analyzed. They are not willing to do that because I no longer have the original packaging and UPC code. I know for sure that we had the new formula since late October and am quite sure that we actually started it in Sept. 2008. If there is a positive side to this, it is the fact that I have become much more educated about pet foods and hope that any experience that I have had with this company will in some way help someone else.

One of my shelties ate the food and started with yellow diarrhea with a terrible odor. Dragging his butt over the ice and snow as if he itched or just had to get rid of the poop. He had this 3-4 times a day, not at all usual with him. Then he stated vomiting undigested food and yellow bile. The other sheltie only ate part of her food (again not normal) and then she too had digestive problems with gas, gagging, itching and loose stools. Both dogs started itching and biting at their legs and feet. We checked them over and saw nothing. Our third sheltie was not on this food as she is too little and she has been fine.

We went online finally and discovered that Canidae had changed their food. Whatever the changes are THEY ARE NOT GOOD. We have changed the food and they are better but not themselves. The energy level is still low and the gas is still present, the diarrhea has stopped. How dare this company make such changes and not inform the public. There were enough problems with pet food before and now Canidae hasn't learn from that experience that people will not tolerate having their animals made sick by poor quality food. The cost of this food is not cheap, we expect to have the best when we buy the best or so we thought. I will NEVER buy Canidae food again.

Our dogs have been treated for urinary tract infections, neurological symptoms, lymphoma and have had odd growths removed. They have lost muscle tone and energy as well. We did not suspect the dog food since we had been using it for several years but tonight we read on the Consumer Affairs website about similar problems that others have experienced with this food, so we are going to immediately take our dogs (the 2 that are still alive) off of it.

I just felt that I needed to let others know that my problem did not end up being the food. My lab had the upset digestive system on the Canidae, but that may have worked itself out if I had been able to transition him slowly to the new food. I have switched him to Fromm and will continue to use it because he is doing well. The Cocker Spaniel has been using Fromm and is also doing well.

I guess I was stupid, as I simply didn't equate all of this to her food, as I had been feeding her this brand her whole life. Myself and my kids searched the yard for something she might have gotten into that may have caused this problem, but couldn't find anything. I gave my kids strict orders not to give her anything else to eat except her dog food, as I thought maybe they had given her some people food that was causing the problems. So, in desperation, I went online to see what I could find out about her sudden symptoms and planned to get her into the vet that week. That is when I was led from one link to another and found out about the change in the Canidae product and the problems others were experiencing.

I was shocked! I went to the shop where I purchase my dog food and asked them about it. They said they tried to let everyone know about the change in the product, but I must have fallen through the cracks. The owner said she had one bag left of the old stuff and gave it to me. Most of her symptoms were gone within a couple days of feeding the new food! She continued to scratch a bit longer, and I had to use a skin conditioner to help heal her hot spots, but now, she seems back to normal. I can't help but wonder what could have happened to her if I hadn't figured this out. I don't know what they did to change their food, but this kind of thing should not happen.

It is more than a simple allergy to the food. It seemed more like food poisoning to me. I am shocked that a company would let this happen to so many dogs and I am saddened that something isn't being done about it. I now tell everyone I know about it to spread the word as I don't want any other dogs to suffer like mine did. I hope this company is held responsible for what they did to my dog and so many others. Shame on them.

WE took him to the vet and he is on an antibiotic for skin infection, benadryl for itching, and the vet immediately suggested we change the food. She said that it appeared something with the NEW formula was causing the allergic reaction. With so many dogs having reactions to the new formula we feel this is a consumer alert!! Our Pet Store has also had customers complain about the new formula causing loose stools. She did give us a full refund on the last bag we bought of Canidae and helped us choose another food to try. We love our food store Prohund and the owner is very informative! We will not be feeding Canidae anymore to our dogs. Our Golden has already had less eye boogers since we switched the food in less than a week and our mixed breed with the skin infection is itching less and starting to heal. Both dogs are now pooping only one time a day with normal consistency!!!

WE ARE VERY UPSET with Canidae allowing another company to manufacture their food and changing the formula that had worked so well for our dogs for many years. It is also irritating that the new bags do not have printed anywhere on them NEW FORMULA! It is frightening that DIAMOND is the company manufacturing the food after all the scare and deaths of dogs that were in Diamond recall years ago. WE are very disappointed with Canidae and do not feel we can trust this food to our dogs ever again!!!

As the months passed, he continued with an occasional problem and many of our friends suggested that poodles have temperamental stomachs; suggesting that the poodle side of him is always going to have an occasional problem. Yesterday, we opened a new bag of Canidae and yesterday he spent about an hour losing Canidae kibble, over and over again. I should of saw it sooner but this time it was very clear: my poor little guy has been suffering from food poisoning? We have now thrown away all of our Canidae products and replaced them with products recommended many. To my surprised, he inhaled his dinner last night and his breakfast this morning (the first time I've seen him enjoy his kibble). Today, he appears to have much more energy and thus far no stomach problems. IMHO, this thread may have helped save my dog's life. Thank You.

Here's where it gets interesting. I contacted Canidae the very day I took my dog to the vet. After I explained what had happened, immediately they said that the food was spoiled and it had sat in the sun too long. I told them it wasn't a spoiled smell, that there is chemical smell to it. I have smelt spoiled animal food before, and this is not it. They faxed me some paperwork, I filled it out. Every two weeks or so, I would send them an email, which they would say, "We'll look into it and get back to you," which they never did.

The day before Thanksgiving, they mistakenly called my house instead of the vet. Still I heard nothing. On 11 December, they called me and said, "We did a thorough review and found the food to have been spoiled." I asked them if they tested the food, they said yes. I called the pet store. They still have the bag at the pet store. So they didn't test it. The whole time they were very defensive and said their product could not possibly have anything wrong with it.

I went to the store today, 12 December, and found out, I wasn't the only one. At least two other people at the same store had the same problems with their food from Canidae. Not only that, Other stores all over the US had the same problem with their food. I'm only out about $150 in vet bills, but clearly Canidae has a problem with their food. I felt that Canidae was blaming me. I have never dealt with a company that was so defensive about their product from the get go. Canidae had their mind made up from the second I called them what the problem with the food was. Well, I kept a sample of the food, and I'm going to send it get it tested to find out what is wrong with it.

I got onto the Canidae website and found more complaints than I could read regarding the newly re-formulated version of what once was a highly bragged about human grade dog food. I am very disappointed that they felt the need to mess up such a good thing. I am in the process of dumping the rest of the new dog food back into the bag and taking it back to the feed barn where I got it. Looks like I'll have to put them on Wellness.

When I sent an email to Canidae a couple of weeks ago, I got a reply, basically blaming bloggers for trying to ruin their great reputation. The proof is in the pudding. Or in this case, in the barf, stools, etc. of our dogs. I am so sorry to hear of more severe symptoms for some dogs - liver issues, seizures. Shameful on Canidae's part. I am glad that I got my dogs away from this food in time.

He explained that the formula had changed and they had told all of their customers. We were never told and found that odd since we are in there so much, they know us by name. We immediately took the food back. In addition, we have contacted Canidae in regards to their product. The representative told us that they are not required by law to put anything on their packaging and it was our responsibility to read the label of every bag. I'm not in the business of keeping every bag so that I can compare it to the next one. We had trusted this product. Furthermore, the company has stated that signage was sent out to stores that sold their products. I have found no signs indicating a change in either store that sales the product in my area. Needless to say we will never purchase Canidae again nor will we visit the local retail store that finds no fault in not telling their customers.

We took her to the vet and $450 later, x-rays showed no blockage and her vitals checked out normal, so the vet gave us medicine for an intestinal/bacterial infection and said to feed her chicken and rice only. She won't even eat that thus we can't give her the medicine! She's getting sicker, moping around and we're talking about a border collie who was in perfect health and very energetic before this. She is our baby and it makes us very sad to see her in so much discomfort. We are going to get her back to the vet for an IV drip for nutrition. We are so scared and worried about our baby! I can't believe with all of the complaints that Canidae has not been sited and they are still selling this horrific new food and horrible plant - Diamond!

Last week we brought him back to the vet and they did blood work. They then put him on medication for the seizures. That same day, I put two and two together and found all of these complaints. I noticed that he was having the seizures right after he would eat. So, I switched dog food and did not give him the medication. He has not had an episode for 7 days, where he was starting to have them almost every day! I am so upset that I am going to have the dog food tested! This is my family!!! I will never feed this food to my dog again!

We kept feeding him high end foods for a couple more months and then switched back to new bag of Canidae over a month period with a little gas and soft stool but nothing serious. After 2 mo. had passed and he was back to 100% Canidae with no problems other than gas, we started mixing and feeding some of the remaining amount of the BAD Canidae from 1 yr. before and within 1 week his symptoms started to develop all over again like before. Remember this was only a small portion of the original food that caused the problem mixed in with the new bag we had been feeding. This was proof that Canidae almost killed our dog after swearing nothing was wrong with their food when we called about the problems.

My puppy started intermittently vomiting. The barfing increased as the % of new Canidae ALS increased. I was only up to about 30% new food and the last day he started barfing about every 3 mins. It was foamy yellow bile. As I called the vet to take him in, he started having diarrhea. This was just under 2 weeks from the day I opened the new bag.

I don't believe for one second that the only addition or change to the formula were those four ingredients. I think they lied and added other things b/c no way could those 4 innocent ingredients create so much dietary upset. At the vets we did rads to see if there was an obstruction. Then a barium study to make sure. Nothing. Just an empty gut and gas pockets in his bowels.

This change was all about money for the company. In their stupid condescending statement, they act like it was bad change-over procedures that created the probs for most people but that is NOT true. I changed slow and it made no difference. He was horribly sick. Wretching up foam and nearly choking on it, lost weight, hair was falling out like never before and his breath was foul. The bags of food got smaller, the price got higher and the ingredients were changed to who-knows-what REALLY. I think Canidae should send out REFUNDS (at the very least!). But hopefully the damage has been done and will put them out of business.

I contacted Canidae and they said nothing had changed in their canned formula, perhaps the batch had been cooked a little different. I called PFD and they credited me and sent a new case. Same thing so I went out and found some Felidae Chicken and rice and fed that for about a month, figuring this would give time for a new batch of the Platinum to hit the market. Before I stopped feeding the chicken and rice, that too changed. I bought it at my local Gourmet Pet store and opened that up one night to find a very red looking and soupy product.

I started ordering the Platinum again in October and was shocked to see that the recent batch has changed yet again - is exceptionally light in color (looks like lots of chicken) and chunks of carrots. Consistency is gross and I cannot even tell you the poop issues and as this is their primary food, can't really transition them. I am so **.

I spent a lot of time researching foods after the recall and I was really dismayed by how the company handles complaints, by lying and saying nothing has changed, then seeing the letter here from the owners and then the company choosing to go with a company like Diamond which had its own huge recall a few years back and seems to still have some quality control issues. In this last batch, I noticed the can tops were thinner, they pop right off. So far, two were already sort of popped and when I opened them, they came right off and the food was all moldy.

I have switched the cats to Nutro Naturals as they don't tolerate Wellness, Innovo OR Natural Balance. They just don't seem to ever get used to them. I hate that I am giving them something so commercial but it seems that Canidae has sold out anyway and have lied about it. They should go under for being so deceitful.

Maybe they shouldn't be like Wall Street and others of recent history trying to make more money by ripping off the public. Shame on you Canidae. Reap the failure you deserve.

We also treated for parasites. No improvement. We steadily increased her portion to help with the weight loss. We had just scheduled a series of blood tests at the vet when we learned at the feed store about the reformulation. We had never heard anything about it. We changed to a new dog food and everything went back to normal. We are out nearly $100 in vet bills for this, but I am glad we found out before the blood work. What a horrible change to make in a product that had been so successful, and how unconscionable not to put a large reformulation notice on the bag itself!!!!!

Everyone who cares for their animal will try to give them the best possible life no matter how many times you go to the vet or not. They are like children. Their health is in our hands and we feel responsible. So if indeed it is Canidae All Life Stage Dog food I truly hope that more people like me will see there are others out there with the same problem and consider changing their dog food.

I asked the manager at the pet store if they had been notified of a change in the food and they said they had not been notified of any changes in the formula or preparation of the Canidae foods. Due to my dogs continued health problems, we switched foods and the problems stopped immediately. Once I began searching the internet, realizing that many, many others had experienced similar or worse problems with their pets, I became angry.

Canidae continues to promote themselves as such a positive, forward thinking company regarding best practices for the health of your pet, yet they participate in business practices that result in poor quality products and misleading, borderline fraudulent advertising/marketing strategies. I certainly understand a business needing to make changes in order to survive in today's economy, but making poor decisions and then being dishonest about the results of those decisions (changes in formula providing optimal nutrition, etc) won't keep my business and when I'm feeding 3 large dogs, my business can be pretty important.

Canidae will never get another dime of our money. This seems to be what they were after, taking a good product and reformulating and using the Diamond Facility to formulate their products. Now they have a rotten product as you can see by the hundreds of complaints. Let's hope the word gets out to all of their customers before anymore of our loving pets have to suffer.

I am now feeding Wellness. I have contacted ALL of my puppy buyers and told them to stop using Canidae. After the dog food recall last summer, I can't believe Canidae hasn't pulled this new formula off the shelves! They're still denying there's anything wrong. What goes around comes around Canidae. You'll be out of business soon.

I replied back stating that I found it strange that a company required a pet owner to alter the feeding routine or method in order to use their product; however, I would consider trying a smaller bag of this new formula if they could assure me that there are no issues with this food that will affect the health of my dog. I have re-sent this same statement twice now and have received no reply - 5 days. I am guessing that Canidae does not have a great deal of confidence in their product. I will not purchase another product from this company and will tell everyone that I know to check out this site.

Weeks later now, he is less explosive, but is not fully adjusting to the food. He has lost weight too. I will admit that his already good coat looks even better. We will be switching foods. We're angry that Canidae did not make a very good effort to warn customers. I have also read on some websites that they added gluten, a common dog allergen, to the food. I haven't checked that fact really recently though. Fitting this same timing, my parent's dog stopped eating her Canidae food entirely and lost a lot of weight to the point of poor health. Their dog is a half year older than mine and had been eating Canidae longer also with success. My folks have since switched foods and are putting weight back on the dog easily.

We had used Canidae ALS for 5 years on all of our dogs, and were extremely pleased with the result. We actively promoted it, in fact, and had our local Feed Store bring it in for us. They had a great deal of success with the food. Everybody was happy. So, when the formula changed, we continued to use it. And that's when the problems began.

For the first four days, we had two dogs with severe diarrhea. So, we cut back on the amount fed, as recommended by Canidae. That seemed to fix the problem. But not for long. Within a week, four additional dogs ended up with severe diarrhea. We knew they couldn't tolerate the new formula, so started researching other foods to feed to our crew.

Well, we needed to get more dog food since the 30 pounds don't last as long and my husband picked it up and he was angry about the cost of it, paid it and then started to look up Canidae online and tried to compare other good dog food to replace it. Lo and behold, he found this website with all the complaints. So it just clicked, my dog started to get diarrhea after he started with the new dog food that was 30 pounds, thank God it only lasted for over a week compared to what other people went through.

The new bag that my husband bought, since it is not opened yet, it will be taken back to the Pet feed store and I will be letting them know about this site and what happened to some of the dogs that consumed this crappy product. I will encourage them to discontinue selling this product. My husband called his brother because his dog also eats this same dog food and actually has been sick for the past couple of weeks, lethargic, vomiting and had a fever, and plus, he was extremely gassy which was extremely unpleasant, they had to take him to the vet yesterday, now he is on antibiotics. He also stopped eating for 3 days, vet suggested to give him some rice.

So, I believed that the mustard yellow runny stools would eventually firm up... not so. To this very day - my dogs have loose yellow stools. My younger dog, also had a bout with watery diarrhea for over a week. I had to go to the vets to put him on meds. The tests came back negative for parasites... the diarrhea did go away with the meds.. so that perhaps was not due to the Canidae.. but it does make me wonder.

I want to tell you that I did call Canidae to complain about the lack of warning about the formula change. No apologies from them. They told me the new formula was better. I don't believe so. I compared the old formula to the new on my own, and I do not like what I see (less brown rice, new rice bran, ocean fish instead of herring, added natural flavors, etc). I had spent months looking for a good food for my dogs, after the melamine scare.

Canidae's original formula was affordable and had great ingredients. My dogs were happy and had normal stools. After picking up more yellow loose stools this morning and searching the web for other complaints, I will again start another search for a good dog food. I'd better do it quickly...Too bad I just bought another bag... I suppose I have been prolonging the inevitable. I am sorry to read that many dogs have gotten really sick! Canidae should have kept their old formula. They have lowered their quality, made the packaging smaller and kept the same price. I wish they had only raised the price!

Now my dogs are the type of dogs who eat as if it's their last meal, so for two to all of a sudden stop frightened me. The only thing I could think of that was the cause was the food. Then 2 days later, my other Staffy got sick, which then I knew something was wrong cause he has a iron stomach. What I did find strange is that it was not a continuous sickness. They would be sick for two or three days, which during this time, I would put them on rice and boiled chicken. They would recover, and then I would gradually add the Canidae and by the second or third day, they would be sick again. I am very saddened as 2 of my 3 dogs have been on Canidae all their life and for this to happen, is very disheartening. I will no longer purchase anymore Canidae products

I immediately took them off Canidae. We did emergency lifesaving surgery to try and save my male, however he died many days later. In the interim, I contacted Canidae. They were not forthcoming about a new formula and denied that their food could have had anything to do with this. Canidae is a very bad, sneaky company and deserves to go under. I personally have been to all the local feed stores with my story as well as spoken to many, many breeders who have since switched from Canidae. I will certainly keep up my vigilance of telling other dog people about the perils of Canidae and my experience.

As I mentioned, I have used Canidae for several months as my dog was tolerating it well, given the fact she takes allergy shots once a month. I will also note that my cat has been suffering from vomiting also. It occurred to me that she occasionally stole a morsel or two from my dog's bowl - Canidae made her sick also. A personal note from me to Canidae - YOU ARE MAKING ANIMALS VERY SICK IN THE NAME OF THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR!!! I would love to see a class action lawsuit form from this nightmare. The anguish this has caused me and the extreme discomfort my dog had to bear was in a word, wrong. Shame on you, Canidae.

With absolute worry and frustration, repeated vet visits, tests for parasites, meds for vomiting, diarrhea and out of control allergies, we helplessly watched our pets continue to worsen. Canidae was a name we had come to trust, so the association with the so-called new and improved formula of Lamb and Rice dumped into their food bin, followed by their deteriorating health didn't make an immediate connection.

It wasn't until we started questioning the quality of their food that our research led us to the Consumer Affairs website. After reading the endless heartfelt complaints by owners explaining the suffering of their dogs from the newly formulated Canidae, we knew beyond any doubt that our own precious dogs were being, for lack of a better word...poisoned.

After immediately introducing a new food (Natural Balance), their healing and recovery begin within the first 24 hours. Now five weeks out, our boys are back better than ever. Canidae, your lack of integrity and accountability is truly shameful. Why has there been no voluntary recall? Why are you still allowing countless animals to suffer and in some cases die? How disgusting that it must be pure greed that has clouded your ethical judgment. Never again, Canidae.

Subsequently all three of my dogs (12-year-old Dalmatian, 4-year-old Pit Bull and my 2-year-old Cattle Dog) have all had very soft smelly yellow stools for 2 months now and the dogs do not seem overjoyed any longer to eat their food. 2 of my dogs developed bad urinary infections which they are currently on antibiotics for - as I said I am a vet assistant and my dogs receive excellent care. My 12-year-old dog lost a considerable amount of weight (a geriatric blood panel was done on him just a few months ago so there is nothing underlining and he does not have worms as he receives Panacur now and then because he also gets raw meat as treats).

We are now out of the Canidae dog food but I don't think I will purchase another bag from Canidae especially since learning many other people have had similar issues. I feel the formula was fine the way it was - customers were happy so why change a good thing? I feel it is NOT the increased protein causing the disgusting stools - as we have began feeding them solely raw meat and their stools have become normal.

Well, this dog got to the point that she would pull out the Canidae from her bowel to eat only the Paul Newman food. I discontinued the Canidae totally and returned her back to Paul Newman's and she is back to her normal self. What I remember about the Diamond plant is that they were the first to be involved with the Petfood problem last year and in 2006. I hope this dog food company has done a complete clean out of all of the melamine that was found in the Diamond food. But all-in-all, will never switch Princess off the Paul Newman ever again.

I checked the bag and it didn't even have any new advertising, or state that it was a NEW formula. VERY SNEAKY INDEED!!! I decided, "Well, it can't be that bad. It's Canidae." I begin feeding her the new food. By the way she was absolutely beautiful and full of life as she is only 1 and has been very well taken care of. Almost IMMEDIATELY, she started vomiting. She had yellow, loose stools, with diarrhea. Every time I took her outside, she would pull me to the grass so she could eat a bunch of it and make herself sick. She had extremely bad gas, and then after about a week of feeding the food, I noticed she was digging herself constantly, scratching, chewing her feet, tail, back, wherever she could reach.

Then in another week, I noticed her hair was falling out in big patches all over her, and she had hard bumps all over her as well, but mostly on her head and face, with rash every where else, along with the vomiting, loose stool, etc. So this was it. I had been feeding it to her for about a month and it was just getting worse, so I decided to contact the company. First time I had to leave a message, but no one EVER got back to me, so I decided to fill out the online web form for complaints or concerns, and then eventually a customer service agent returned my message and had confirmed that they changed the formula, and for me just to continue feeding it to her that she would get better with time - it's just a transitioning period!

Believing yet again in the company I did what they said, and fed for about another month. By this time my dog was hardly moving at all. She just wanted to lay around and sleep. She was pretty much bald and had bigger lumps all over her with blood and pus constantly running out of them from her scratching and she had lost a lot of weight!!!! Does this sound like normal transitioning???? I think NOT!!! I had been putting a topical antibiotic on the lumps on her body to prevent infection and had been bathing her once a week in Canadian Medicated Shampoo as well from the vet, but nothing! So I finally decided to take action.

I sent an email to Canidae and said that they obviously have done more than change the formula as my dog looked as if she was dying (!!!!) at only 1 year old, and she had been healthy as a horse before the change! And that I'd be going to the vet. But during this time, I did switch her to Orijen, grain free, 5 fish formula, which is supposed to be the best food you can get, and it's not cheap, 85 Canadian dollars for only a 30-lb. bag. But I believe I am forced to buy it as I can't trust any reputable dog food companies anymore, and I'm not rich. So thank you Canidae for almost killing my dog!!!!!! Shame on you!

Two weeks ago, however, she began having an increasing number of stools, 3-5 x daily, some of them loose and lighter in color. She seemed sluggish during the day and restless at night. She started shaking and throwing up bile in the early morning hours. We even noticed a red tint to her urine on one occasion which really frightened us. Our vet ran a cPL test and diagnosed her with pancreatitis. She has since been on antibiotics and other medications to control her vomiting. We were advised to feed her several small, bland meals of chicken and brown rice until her symptoms alleviated at which point, we could incorporate her regular Canidae diet. After a few days, she seemed to be doing well, so we started to mix in the Canidae. Wouldn't you know that when we began increasing the Canidae, the vomiting started again.

My husband and I have spent hundreds of dollars in vet bills and felt desperate for help, so we decided to look online for more information. We were horrified to find that so many other Canidae users experienced similar problems. Obviously, we discontinued the Canidae immediately. We have since started feeding her Wellness brand canned food and have noticed an unbelievable difference already. Her urine appears normal in color, she is making 1-2 bowel movements daily, and her stool is smaller and firm. She is no longer shaking or vomiting and seems to have more energy.

I used to buy Canidae online and have recently contacted the distributor, petfooddirect.com, for a full refund for my latest order. I have yet to get a response, however, and am somewhat reluctant to send it back for fear that it will be shipped to another unsuspecting dog owner. For those who may be concerned that their Canidae is contaminated in some way, here is the information from my order: 20 lb. bag of Canidae Lamb and Rice dry dog food- RM 3 Apr 03 09, expires Apr 03 09 (bar code #6 4046101220 6, product #1220). 24 case of 13 oz. Canidae Lamb and Rice canned dog food- E1213815414, best by June 2013 (bar code #6 4046101213 8).

After medication, fecal smears, blood tests, x-rays, and an endoscopy that revealed mild to moderate irritation in his stomach and the mouth of his intestinal tract, the DVM determined it was one of two things: 1) Parasites; 2) Food allergy. The DVM placed Cody on Hill's Prescription Ultra Allergen Free Z/D diet. We started the transition to Z/D about a week ago. Cody has not vomited since the transition. Now I have to find a new dog food for Cody. I started to research the food allergy theory. I discovered we bought our first bag of the new formula around the same time Cody started to get sick. Then I found this website and found out Cody was not alone. I am convinced the new Canidae formula caused Cody's ailments and will no longer be a Canidae customer.

Since Kendall had not changed food before, I assumed the loose, yellow, odorous stools were normal when changing dog food. I had only a small amount of the old food left when I opened the new formula food, so I was unable to do the transition as recommended on line. I did add a Canidae dog treat to her food to assist with the transition, and this seemed to help with the consistency of the stools. However, after being on the food for almost 2 months, her stools continue to be soft, yellow, and odorous and she is gassy. She has also vomited a few times lately and has been trying to eat grass frequently. Luckily, she has not had any allergy type symptoms.

I wish I had been warned that they were changing their formula so I would have checked that first instead of spending money on unnecessary tests and having sleepless nights worrying about what could be wrong with my dog. I believe there is something more than just a formula change, as my dogs seem to change very easily from one food to another and with the drastic changes I saw in them, there is something very wrong with that food. The company should be shut down and investigated. I had to spend quite a bit of money on vet appointments and tests to find out why my dog was steadily losing weight. This all happened while my husband has been on strike with the machinists union and has been a huge financial hardship.

In the next few days I noticed her energy level drop. She just laid on the floor during the day. I stopped the food the day after that when I noticed her scratching herself continuously and that her hair from her belly started to fall. I fed her rice for a day or two to settle her stomach then switched her over to Orijen. Right after the first meal of Orijen, the diarrhea was gone. I spoke to customer service at Canidae and they were very defensive. They did not seem to care at all. My dog got very sick. I can't imagine what would have happened if she kept eating that stuff. Canidae says they won’t switch back to their old formula. The lady even said she is surprised at my dog reaction - stated dogs have been doing great on the new formula. I was shocked when I read these posts! I will never feed Canidae ever again!!!!

After a weekend of no longer vomiting, we started her back on to the Canidae dog food. She has started to vomit again. I went to my pet store and asked them what other type of food they recommended and that's when I heard about the formulation changes. I am so angry that my dog had to suffer. I feel that the packaging should of explained that there was a new formulation. We had no idea that there was a change. I would not recommend this product to anyone. Something is making all of these dogs sick.

One of my dog's eyes constantly wept and her left eye would from time to time have white tissue protrude from the outside corner around the bottom, pushing her eye back and up in the socket. Of course, I spoke with my vet about this and everyone drew a blank. It was not a cherry eye and would happen repeatedly in a single day. If I applied gentle pressure, it would correct itself. I was preparing her for early spay surgery and asked that her eyes be checked while she was under. My vet thought it might be a growth of some sort putting pressure behind her eye.

THEN prior to her surgery, I switched her food from Canidae to HealthWise and in 48 hours I noticed her face looked markedly different. She looked like she USE to look... only I hadn't noticed the gradual change that had taken place. Her face had been swollen and the protruding tissue was the exposed swelling from around her eye. Because she's a giant breed, I had not noticed the physical change. After the switch in foods was when I noticed she looked like she use too and I asked my boyfriend if he noticed anything different about her. He said, "Her face... It's like her sinuses were swollen and now they aren't."

Can I say for sure it was a reaction to the new Canidae? Not without my vet having treated her... but it is interesting that since I changed her food, the tissue around her eye has not protruded, her eyes aren't constantly weeping and her face isn't swollen any more. So IMO, I believe it was related and she was having a reaction to whatever they have put in their new recipe. And the other issues my dogs were dealing with are also clearing up. My other female dog lives to be in water and never had a problem with it when eating the old Canidae, but on the new Canidae whenever she would get wet, there was some odd reaction between the water and her female parts... She would cry, lick and chew at her private area when she would get out of the pool. Since the change in food, this has also stopped. She again enjoys the pool with no ill effects. They are no longer lethargic, sleeping all the time and they are playing and eating regularly again.

Shame on you Canidae. Shame on you! You did more than add meat and barley and take out the rice. You know you did and so do the rest of us. Why don't you be honest. Too many pets and pet owners are suffering and spending money on unnecessary vet bills for it only to be some barley and more meat. Get real.

Now I'm still trying to find a food my dog can tolerate. Canidae shouldn't have messed with the formula and I don't want to feed my dog smaller portions of their crappy food a few times a day. According to my retailer, they've heard a lot of similar complaints and sales of Canidae have gone way down. Not only did they screw us, they screwed themselves.

Then the switcheroo with no heads up. Which I find offensive that Canidae didn't even bother to put on their bag "New and Improved Recipe!" Unless they knew it was not an improvement. And they switched manufacturers, raised the price and lower the size of the bags! Were they hoping we wouldn't notice? My extremely well housebroken dogs began to have accidents in the house with loose stools and a weeks’ worth of belly troubles. I had no idea what was going on... and decided to ride it out and if things got worse. I would have to take them to the vet. From reading other complaints, I consider myself lucky. At least I had no vomit to deal with along with the loose stools. Then one dog began constantly scratching, her ears, her belly and chewing on her legs and feet. I now realize this too is because of the new Canidae recipe. She didn't have this problem prior to their change.

My boyfriend took his older dog into the vet because of her chewing and losing hair to find out she now has an "allergy". We assume to the new recipe because like my girl, she did not have this problem before. Her skin is waxy and she has lost almost all of the hair on her belly. When I contacted Canidae personally by phone and by email both times, I was told some dogs would have a little trouble with the new recipe but VERY few. That they have hundreds of very happy customers and sales have only gone up since the changes. And basically it's not their food, but more my dogs.

However, I just spent the entire afternoon researching foods driving around to four different natural pet food store and none Canidae for sale any more. They all said the complaints were across the board. All I can say though is my dogs MUST have caught on about the switcheroo before I did, because slowly, they stopped eating it. Now one of my dogs won't eat it at all. Which is fine because we are switching foods today.

Well, I had my dog on about 5 different types of dog food these last 6 months with absolutely no problems making the transition between them. That's not the case with this Canidae CRAP. I'm on the second day of feeding this to him and he has now got yellow runny poop, and some horrible gas. This is the last time I feed him Canidae dog food. Oh yeah, I followed the directions Canidae gave on transitioning your dog to this new formula and it didn't make one bit of difference!!

What blows me away is this... after all the clamoring from so many people with identical symptoms, people that have spent hundreds of dollars in vet bills, plus countless hours of worry and heartache, how can this company not admit that they made a mistake? Instead the fault is turned on the customer for not being able to read their minds and on the uninformed retailers for not getting the word out which simply adds insult to injury. There are many examples of transition from the old to the new that still went badly. And, not all dog foods are for every dog, but their old formula seemed to be! Every time I try to talk to the people at Canidae I only get the standard, scripted insults.

Finally my point: Not long ago, I bought an edible bone treat from a company that caused my dog to have the runs for 2 days and once it was out of her system she was fine. I called the company, being sure that it was their product that caused all of the mess, just to let them know about the reaction my dog had. The person I spoke with was speaking to me pleasantly and personally and very sympathetically. She asked me questions and finally stated that on rare occasions, certain sensitive dogs react this way to their product. She then told me that she would be happy to send me a refund. I told her that I no longer had the receipt or the package and that I was not calling for compensation. I thanked her for her time. In a couple of weeks I received a large package filled with dog toys, bathing and grooming products and treats for sensitive tummies. Amazing! That, Canidae, is customer service.

In August, I bought a new bag of food, and when I opened it up, the kibble looked and smelled totally different. I was sure that the rumor was true about the food change. I had no time to transition my dogs to the new formula since the new food was packaged the exact same way as the original formula. Who knew that this was the new formula except the ingredients were different. I was a member of the breeder program so Canidae did have my address and email information. I began to feed my dogs the new Canidae formula, and after their second feeding, they became quite sick. My three Belgians had very loose yellow stools. The stools were soft and like a yellow pudding. Prior to the change, my dogs never had any problem with loose stools. I added rice and potato to the food and removed any cooked food that I normally added to the kibble. The dogs became extremely sick and had to be treated with antibiotics to calm their intestinal tract.

I now found myself at the mercy of the dog food company. I immediately called Canidae and they said I should have transitioned. I told them there was no way to know when the new food was going to be packaged. I told Canidae that I was quite annoyed with their new product that they claim is better. Several of my friend's dogs had the same occurrences. My dogs are long haired and you can only imagine the mess besides the sore stomachs of my canines. This all occurred right before my wedding and was a total inconvenience. I have since switched my dogs to Eagle Pack Holistic and they are doing terrific. I would never use another Canidae product. I feel very violated and feel that Canidae misrepresented their product. What a way to lose loyal customers.

But honestly... for those of you who write that you 'noticed a change in the bag, the price, and color of the food, but just assumed that there was nothing wrong with it because you trusted the company', are you crazy? A responsible pet owner, or consumer for that matter, should always always always follow guy instinct. If something looks different, it probably is. We should all feel like we can trust who we buy our pet's food, or our own food, or even our children's toys. But we can't. I think that watching the news over the last several years will prove that standards are lower in some companies and countries than others.

Always do your research. Always trust your instincts.

I hope Canidae will change back to their original formula. Many people changed their dog's food based on my growing recommendations of Canidae's original formula. I will be letting my supplier know that I am changing so they don't get stuck with excess inventory, and I will let the people I convinced to use Canidae to be aware of changes in their dog's health. Thanks again for making this site available.

I WAS so happy with this food... and fed it for a great number of years & referred it to adopters within my rescue organization and to other members of the dog show community... I am now disgusted with this company and cannot believe the utter lack of compassion & business savvy. Shame on them. They will certainly lose more than money on this stupid decision. They have lost their reputation.

I didn't have the opportunity of switching out gradually b/c I had no warning about the change and couldn't procure a bag of the old food. This persisted for over a month and I switched to a different brand. Still had loose stool and bad diarrhea. This had never happened before. I have incurred over a thousand dollars in vet bills. The vet thought it might be worms (although I treat with a preventative) and I, thinking that might have been it, went back to the Canidae. Still bad, bad smelly diarrhea and bad itching and digging at her back and tummy. Red spots on tummy after she eats.

I finally realized that it is the food after reading one after another complaint with dogs with similar symptoms. She even had and was treated for an anal abscess b/c her stools were so loose she wasn't clearing her anal glands, not usually a problem for her breed. I am so so so upset that I trusted Canidae and should have went with my instincts and switched off the food from the start. The reason I didn't is that I was afraid that I wouldn't find the source of the problem if I made too many changes to her habits and diet at once. It was the food all along. And Canidae had the incredible nerve to not tell me when I emailed them that they switched to the manufacturer Diamond.

I would never, never, never buy a dog food from a manufacturer with so many known issues. As a matter of fact, that is why I chose Canidae in the first place. It was rated A+ and safe and local. I am so angry and am telling everyone not to buy Canidae. Today, when I went to my local dog store to report this, there were two other customers there with the same complaint. At the vet today (where I am back for yet another fecal recheck) one client's dog had diarrhea and vomiting and their dog eats Canidae. I am so angry. I want my vet bills back. I want my dog's intestines to be healthy again. I want Canidae to be punished. I will tell everyone I know and there is no doubt in my mind that they are negligent and I will sue.

My 2 litters at the time had non-stop runs for 10 weeks and i spent a lot of money on vet ills, medication and fecal exams to rule out worms and parasites. My adults were also having vomiting and the runs, but i never could figure out why... finally a friend talked me into switching foods claiming that the food she feeds gives the pups hard stools no matter what and instantly the pups had firm stools. Still i didn’t think it was the Canidae that I trusted completely until someone sent me a link to this website. After investigating several brands I decided on a new high-end brand and will no longer use or refer anyone to Canidae.

Concerned, I contacted the company, and a young woman said that they had changed the formula, and if my dogs were experiencing soft stools to mix water into the food and/or add some cooked rice to the food. If I wanted to cook for my dogs I would- isn't why we feed packaged food for the convenience?? Funny thing is - our 11 1/2 year old has always had to have his food ground & mixed with enough water to make a slurry as he has mega-esophagus, and had and still does, have the softest stools of any of them. So, I switched to the ALS formula of Canidae, the results are a little better, not much. I am thoroughly disgusted with the company for their lack of any notice on the food bags that there was a change in the formula, and for the increased cost for an obviously inferior new formula.

Thankfully my dogs have not developed any deadly effects - YET. I am returning the food and will switch to Nutripet or Innova.

I was first alerted to the formula change by a Cavalier website. Thank goodness they did inform me, but what of Canidae? They gave no notice that the ingredients weren't the same. When I called the company, I got a very polite person who stated that the new formula is improved, and they'd never compromise the dogs. Well, comparing the ingredients, from the old bag to the new, the fat content has increased. I learned when comparing pet food ingredients that fat content is what is done to appeal to the animal, but it negatively affects the animal. While all animals need some fat in their diet, they don't need the amount that is in the 'improved' Canidae.

I was told by the company spokesperson that the problems that people are having with the new Canidae are the result of bad press from other people hoping to smear Canidae. I seriously doubt that there'd be 51 pages of reports of bad effects with feeding dogs the new Canidae. In reading of all the reports, there were only 2 or 3 that were happy with the new formulation of Canidae. And if the new formulation of Canidae was so good, why didn't the company inform the buying public of this change?

Finally, if this is indeed a conspiracy, why did everyone that had dogs negatively impacted not promote one brand? Wouldn't it make sense that someone promoting another brand would stick to that one brand? I find it sad that this company in an obvious attempt to make their food cheaper to manufacture, has made dogs ill or die. I'm thankful that I still have half a bag of the old formula Canidae to transition to a new brand of dog food where hopefully the makers will have more morals.

I have a third sheltie, not Canidae and he was and is fine. Never got sick!!!! More proof. I strongly feel Canidae should settle with all the families, whose dogs got so sick from the new formula. My dogs did not need to suffer like that, I certainly did not need a $500.00 vet bill because Canidae decided to change the formula without a warning on the new product. Even if they did, I strongly feel there is something wrong with the food. The company should do what is right, find out what is wrong with the food and reimburse the customers for their vet bills that their food caused.

Now, about three weeks into it, he continues to have soft stools, a lot of gas, always acts famished and now he vomited up the food. This is the last straw. There has to be something ELSE that is different about the food besides what the company claims to have changed. Why else would there be such negative results? I did email the company to notify them that my four-year-old dog is now experiencing negative consequences from eating their food. I don't want nor expect anything from them, except their honesty as to WHAT REALLY changed!

I cannot afford to waist money on your product and have switched.