clearing up some things about acana/champion

[shellbeme]

Cat-food irradiation banned as pet theory proved

Champion pet foods does not use irradiation on it's foods. Austrailia, back durring this whole irradiation thing had it manditory that all imported foods be irradiated, so the Austrailian government caused these pets to die.

Now, we all talk about protien levels, and while I agree we need to watch the levels, I dont' think it's fair to completely blast Acana for protien levels as they aren't ALL that high, in fact, I made a list to share with everyone, of both Fromm and Acana, which aren't very far off.

If you still think these are too high, I totally respect your opinion and don't necissarily disagree with you, but still, I think it's good we take a look at them.

Acana Classics Line:
Pup small breed 32%
Pup large breed 32%
Chicken % Burbank Potato 28%
Sport & Agility 33%
Light & Fit 35%
Puppy & Jr 32%
Adult Small Breed 33%
Senior Dog 33%

Acana Regnionals:
Wild Prairie 31%
Grasslands 31%
Pacifica 33%
Ranchlands 31%

Acana Singles: (I swear there are two more formuals but this is all that is listed on their site)
Duck and Bartlett Pear 25%
Lamb and Okanagan Apple 25%

Now, Fromm, because I love it, and it is often recommended when Acana is downed for too high of protien.

From Four Star:
Salmon Tunalini GF 28%
Game bird recipe GF 29%
Surf & Turf GF 30%
Beef Frittata Veg GF 30%
Chicken A La Veg 24%
Duck & Sweet Potato 24%
Pork & Applesauce 24%
Salmon A La Veg 25%
Whigtefish and Potato 23%

The protein levels aren't that far off of eachother. I prefer not to go over 30, and I prefer to stay around 25, however I also rotate foods, which I think is good, so I don't freak over one bag being a little higher.

Anyways just some food for thought. Champion has not yet responded to me about the irradiation issue, but I believe the article from the newspaper above answers that question.

I still believe it is one of the better foods, and like any food, not suited for all dogs. Just wanted to give everyone some food for thought about it.

[maltese manica]

Hi Shelly,

Thanks for looking into this matter. But how do we know if they are telling the truth????? I am freaked out cause my three like eating the acana food and nothing else!

[shellbeme]

Originally Posted by maltese manica

Hi Shelly,

Thanks for looking into this matter. But how do we know if they are telling the truth????? I am freaked out cause my three like eating the acana food and nothing else!

There are so many legal issues that would come into play if they were lying-however... as much as I would love to believe 100% everything dog food companies tell us, the only way to know 100% how your dogs food is treated and made is to raise your own meat sources and slaughter your own meat sources.

That's the only way to know 100%. Even our human foods-while I do believe are better, are treated with so many different chemicals and hormones *shrugs*.

We just got to do the best we can.

[shellbeme]

The response :-)
Hi Michele,

Thank you for your email, and thank you for your recommendations!

We no longer export ORIJEN or ACANA to Australia. We do not export our product lines to any country that applies the irradiation process to our pet food.

On November 20, 2008, Champion Petfoods announced a voluntary recall of its ORIJEN Cat food brand sold in Australia. The recall was restricted to AUSTRALIA ONLY and was issued in response to reports from the Australian veterinary community of cats showing symptoms of a neurological syndrome after consuming ORIJEN CAT food.

The recall was unique to Australia and did not affect any of the other 50 countries to which ORIJEN is exported. The Australian cases resulted from the high-level irradiation (exceeding 50kGY) applied to ORIJEN upon entering Australia. Champion Petfoods no longer exports or sells its ORIJEN pet foods in Australia.

The Australian government has officially accepted that irradiation applied to ORIJEN was indeed the cause of the problem with the Australian cats, and has now banned the practice of irradiating cat foods entirely. Please see below for a link to the latest article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Cat-food irradiation banned as pet theory proved

If you should have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,

Bonnie

Customer Care Leader

Champion Petfoods LP

[TLR]

Originally Posted by shellbeme

The response :-)
Hi Michele,

Thank you for your email, and thank you for your recommendations!

We no longer export ORIJEN or ACANA to Australia. We do not export our product lines to any country that applies the irradiation process to our pet food.

On November 20, 2008, Champion Petfoods announced a voluntary recall of its ORIJEN Cat food brand sold in Australia. The recall was restricted to AUSTRALIA ONLY and was issued in response to reports from the Australian veterinary community of cats showing symptoms of a neurological syndrome after consuming ORIJEN CAT food.

The recall was unique to Australia and did not affect any of the other 50 countries to which ORIJEN is exported. The Australian cases resulted from the high-level irradiation (exceeding 50kGY) applied to ORIJEN upon entering Australia. Champion Petfoods no longer exports or sells its ORIJEN pet foods in Australia.

The Australian government has officially accepted that irradiation applied to ORIJEN was indeed the cause of the problem with the Australian cats, and has now banned the practice of irradiating cat foods entirely. Please see below for a link to the latest article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Cat-food irradiation banned as pet theory proved

If you should have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Kind regards,

Bonnie

Customer Care Leader

Champion Petfoods LP

Good to know as I fed Ben Acana in his rotation. Thanks for sharing this.

[Crystal&Zoe]

Well actually...no. This is not clearing this up. If you notice, they don't say they only used the irradiation process for Australia. Nor do they say they don't use it here in the US. They simply stated they used a HIGH LEVEL irradiation (exceeding 50kGY) upon entering Australia.

If you also notice, it's the exact same reply they posted in the responses section of this article by Dog's Naturally Magazine. Also, notice the very first response. Just further proves to me that I want to buy organic or locally grown for my own personal use.

Is Your Pet’s Food Irradiated?

Also, I have to say that in my own personal opinion, rotating through foods that range from 22-30% in protein is considerably lower than the majority of Acana's range from 30-33%. It's ok to throw some in a rotation of lower proteins but I would not want to do consistently over 30% for a breed with known liver issues. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm seeing people here throwing out recommended protein levels in the low 20's. And there could be potential problems going that low too. That's basically what a kidney diet is. So it's really best to rotate through various protein levels and you may find that maybe a food over say 30% isn't agreeing well with your fluff or one at 21% isn't agreeing with your fluff.

[shellbeme]

Originally Posted by Crystal&Zoe

Well actually...no. This is not clearing this up. If you notice, they don't say they only used the irradiation process for Australia. Nor do they say they don't use it here in the US. They simply stated they used a HIGH LEVEL irradiation (exceeding 50kGY) upon entering Australia.

If you also notice, it's the exact same reply they posted in the responses section of this article by Dog's Naturally Magazine. Also, notice the very first response. Just further proves to me that I want to buy organic or locally grown for my own personal use.

Is Your Pet’s Food Irradiated?

Also, I have to say that in my own personal opinion, rotating through foods that range from 22-30% in protein is considerably lower than the majority of Acana's range from 30-33%. It's ok to throw some in a rotation of lower proteins but I would not want to do consistently over 30% for a breed with known liver issues. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm seeing people here throwing out recommended protein levels in the low 20's. And there could be potential problems going that low too. That's basically what a kidney diet is. So it's really best to rotate through various protein levels and you may find that maybe a food over say 30% isn't agreeing well with your fluff or one at 21% isn't agreeing with your fluff.

Thanks for posting Crystal I think it's important for people to hear as many points of view as possible to make the best decision!

[jenna123]

Such useful info! I was considering Orijen too, I hope nothing is wrong with the ones in Canada but maybe I should just not buy it just in case.