[mylittledeers]

I've tried to do as much research into dog food brands as I could and try to keep up with recalls. We have fed Donner Innova dog food since he came home, tried to change it to Canidae, couldn't take the loose and frequent stool. I haven't heard anyone  here mention Innova, good or bad and was just looking for opinions?

 

[samsonsmom]

Innova is a very good food. It's rated real high in the Whole dog journal & gets a good grade on the report card...See my stickies in the nutrition section..

 

[RottsnBox]

I've used Innnova in the past and I know others who still feed it.  I think it's a great food and would recommend it over Canidae here's why.

I've heard of more dogs having skin, coat, goopy eyes and stool issues when fed Canidae, one of my dogs included.

I also don't like a dogs diet to contain lots of grains or rice, they are carnivores after all and RAW diets to me are by far the best for them, but can be cost prohibitive for some people.

Innova doesn't list a grain/rice/grass ingredient until 4 ingredients down the list; Canidae's is 3rd and 4th down the list meaning there's more of it in the mix percentage wise.

All that said there's no better measure of what's best for your dog than how they do on any food. All dogs are different and some do well on one brand while another doesn't.

 

[boxerlove]

Our friend fed it for several years to her chi's she then switched over to a raw diet for them.  She said they did very well on it and it was the only prepared food she would use.

 

[Kate]

Since reading the post on  Acetaminophen and Canidae yesterday, I've spent most of the night reading everything I can find on the net regarding dog food recalls and found this post (here is the link so you can read the whole thing).

http://www.itchmo.com/innova-testing-re ... rapet-1845

.....On Jun 4, 2007, Donna (Itchmo username PFR07PS) received test results on her sample of Innova dog food from ExperTox stating that it tested positive for acetaminophen and cyanuric acid. She was prompted to test for toxins after spotting black and white chunks in the Innova kibble.

She paid for two tests. The first, performed on the dog kibble itself, tested negative for toxins. However, the second test, performed on just the black and white specks in the dog food (shown in photo) tested positive for cyanuric acid and acetaminophen.....  you can read the rest of what Donna has to say.

However before you panic, let me say that Innova is not on the FDA's food recall list and the company's (Nutura) CEO has posted it's own independent lab test results from 3 different labs, including Expertox, the lab that that is suppose to have found acetaminophen contamination in Canidae.  All three labs reported negative findings for cyanuric acid and acetaminophen.  See test results here:
http://www.naturapet.com/about-natura/labresults.asp

Additionally, here is more info from The Pet Food List:

Natura Pet Products (verified with company 3/24/07, 5/11/07)

Brands include Innova, Evo, California Natural, Healthwise, Mother Nature, Karma Organic
Manufacture their own dry food, using their own formulas
They use only US suppliers - no ingredients come from China or other foreign countries.
They use no corn or wheat products (including wheat gluten)
Wet foods made by Menu Foods * (S. Dakota plant) but not involved in the recall.
All Natura products have been tested for melamine contamination and all tests confirmed no melamine in our foods. (from website 5/11/07

Menu Foods were the manufacturers more than 54 of the recalled pet food companies.

Who knows what to believe anymore, is this a conspiracy or a bunch of wackjobs out there seeking attention by posting nonsence to scare people that just want to give their pets the best food they can.

 

[mylittledeers]

Thank you all so much for the opinions and links, I've looked at them all and after looking at the pics went through our bag of food looking for white and black specks, none found thank goodness. I will be checking each new bag as I open it. I've been so worried about food for grain content, protein levels and citric acid (read somewhere this wasn't good if you moisten food which I do) Now I'm heading for raving paranoia  worrying about acetimenophin. is it possible some freak fascinated with the media hype over recalls could be contaminating food in the plant? Since Innova wasn't on the recall seems like that would make them a prime "kook target" I know, I'm probably watching too much true crime on TV but this stuff scares the bejeepers out of me. He depends on me to care for him and I would be devastated to think I let him down I fed Sophie home cooked meals for her last few months because she couldn't seem to keep down anything else-may go back to that if this keeps up! Thanks again for the help.

 

[HannaBanana]

Innova is ok in the reg formula for puppies but I would not feed them the Innova Evo for it has way too much protein for them at 42%.

I try to feed a kibble that has 22-24% protein to puppies under the age of 2.  I am right now feeding a 26% protein only because its the only one that is grainless and under 30%.