Opinions on California Natural..

[Lyn]

I'm thinking of trying California Natural (chicken meal and rice) with Bubba and Lola.

I've had a really hard time finding a food that works for Bubba. He's eating the Eagle Pack, Anchovy, sardine and Salmon one right now. He's doing ok on it. BUT we have had an unexpected major financial blow and I HAVE to find something cheaper that is still a quality food. I refuse to feed garbage crap food.

I'm paying 76.37 for a 30lb bag of the Eagle Pack.. The California Natural is 61.55 for a 36lb bag including taxes. I'm buying 2 bags a months.. So it would drop from 152.74 to 123.10 a month. Doesn't seem like alot but it would help, plus I'm getting an extra 6 pounds of kibble per bag.

Only problem is.. I'm not sure how Bubba would do with the chicken. After looking back and going through ALL the foods I've tried. I've never tried a food that was JUST chicken with no other protein sources.. It could work out great, or it could end in major cow patties in the yard.

Here's the link with ingredients for the chicken meal and rice formula. They do have a herring and sweet potato formula too. But barley is a no go and it's the second ingredient. I found that out when trying Solid Gold, they have barley in all their formulas.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&pxsl=%2F%2Fproduct%5B@id%3D%2762%27%5D

[Saint and Mal mom]

Could you buy a small bag like 5 or 10 pounds and try it first? See if he has allergic reaction or cow patties first and then decide.

[Lyn]

LoL Liz, Actually I looked into shipping before although a different brand of food. It worked out to be the same price here, give or take a couple bucks. Maybe I just need to move closer to you. LOL 

Holly, That's what I was thinking.. about there not being much in there to disagree with him. I might as well try it and see. I'll make the switch as slow as possible and hope for the best.

The 5-10 pound bag would only do about 2-3 meals. It usually takes a week or so with Bubba to see the full effect of the food. He can do great for the first week and then bam! So I'd need a big bag.

The humane society has been recieving alot of half bags of food from me.. so at least I'm helping them if it doesn't work out. LOL

[shangrila]

Zoey is on california natural now. She was having issues with other foods so we switched her to it and she had solid poops pretty much immediately. Now she is having issues again, but I am not sure if it is the food or something else causing them

[Anakalia]

I just wanted to give my 2 cents here, but I don't know if it will help any.  Koby has had digestive issues since we got him almost 2 yrs ago.  We've tried everything from Chicken Soup Dog Food, Eagle Pack Holistic, Solid Gold, just to name a few.  We even tried crap foods 'cause we were just so frustrated and didn't know what to do!  Nothing worked, chicken, beef, fish, duck didn't matter he'd always have bootie blowouts or was vomiting all the time!  He got so skinny and sickly looking I was afraid to take him out in public because I was scared people would think we were starving him.  We had vet checks done to make sure he didn't have any parasites or other illnesses we were at our witts end, really.  I knew Koby could digest oatmeal, at the time that's the ONLY thing he could digest but I also knew he wasn't getting the nutrition he needed so I looked into oatmeal foods and found Healthwise from the makers of Innova.  I also looked into California Natural, but thought I'd try the Healthwise first to see if that would help settle his tummy.  Well almost instantly he had normal poops and I couldn't have been happier!!  I was amazed, he was no longer vomiting all the time either.  The only thing I didn't like about Healthwise was the calorie content, he needed more.  I looked into Innova and California Natural again and found Innova had more calories/per cup and I thought that's what Koby needed to fill out. 

I guess the point I'm trying to make is we had thought Koby was allergic to chicken AND rice and just about everything else out there because he was always sick UNTIL we tried the right food that made all the difference in the world!  I'd recommend anyone try any of the foods made by Natura Pet.  Innova, California Natural and Healthwise, they're all great foods and Innova has worked wonders for Koby, I think it's been about 2 months since the switch and he's gaining wait and poo's are firm! YAY!

Even if you may think Bubba's allergic to chicken, I'd say try the California Natural (they also have a Sweet Potato and Fish formula) and it give it a few weeks.  If you can, pick up a smaller bag to try that way if it doesn't work you're not out a lot of money.  Hang in there, I know how frustrating it is to find the right food!   

[dober_gurl]

From what I've heard on another forum California Natural is great food!

[Bella's mom]

I found that out when trying Solid Gold, they have barley in all their formulas.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&pxsl=%2F%2Fproduct%5B@id%3D%2762%27%5D

Hate to hijack your thread, but did the Solid Gold give Bubba "cow patties"?  I have had Bella on the Solid Gold Wolf King for about 3 months, and her poops just will not completely become solid.  I'm so sick of scooping these piles.  I'm about to switch her, and when you mentioned Solid Gold, it just rang a bell.

[shangrila]

[Hate to hijack your thread, but did the Solid Gold give Bubba "cow patties"?  I have had Bella on the Solid Gold Wolf King for about 3 months, and her poops just will not completely become solid.  I'm so sick of scooping these piles.  I'm about to switch her, and when you mentioned Solid Gold, it just rang a bell.

Zoey was on wolf king for almost a year - her poops started out relatively soft, and then slowly got softer ad softer until we switched her off of it. She also had bad gas on wolf king 

[Bella's mom]

[Hate to hijack your thread, but did the Solid Gold give Bubba "cow patties"?  I have had Bella on the Solid Gold Wolf King for about 3 months, and her poops just will not completely become solid.  I'm so sick of scooping these piles.  I'm about to switch her, and when you mentioned Solid Gold, it just rang a bell.

Zoey was on wolf king for almost a year - her poops started out relatively soft, and then slowly got softer ad softer until we switched her off of it. She also had bad gas on wolf king 

Yes, everything that I read that Solid Gold put out about their food said to give them about two months.  Well, I've done 3 months, and I am sick to death of her poop!   Not only are they very soft, but she seems to poop twice as much as she did before.  I mean, she will go out, make a pile, then walk around the yard some more, then make another!

[Gypsy Jazmine]

Canidae now has a food with one protein source...It is chicken...I am so very pleased with Canidae...Sams on was the Booty Blowout King before we switched...Now I wonder what little dog has been pooping in my yard! Also all ingredients are human grade & the meat is free range raised.
http://www.canidae.com/dogs/chicken_and_rice/dry.html

[jaspers mom]

We're currently on chicken soup and it's working well and is very inexpensive.  Sometimes you can find Canidae reasonably priced as well.  Good luck-

[Lyn]

Bella's mom, Yes Bubba had 'cow patties' on wolfking, wolfcub, hundenflocken and mmillenia. He also pooped twice as much and they were HUGE piles. Not to mention the horrible gas he had too. I was told to cut back on the amount of kibble I was giving him and it did help with the loose poop a little bit. But he started losing weight instead so I switched to something else.

IMO I think Solid Gold needs to re-formulate their foods. Something is NOT right there. Very few dogs do well on it for some reason. I've read numerous loose stool threads on different forums concering Solid Gold.. It should be called "Loose Gold" LOL

About the California Natural.. I spoke to my vet since he's familar with Bubba's issues and he said to give it a try since their Chicken meal and rice formula is pretty basic. So I'm going to buy a bag this weekend. Wish me luck! 

[shangrila]

IMO I think Solid Gold needs to re-formulate their foods. Something is NOT right there.

I agree. They have great quality ingredients, but something is not quite right. Interestingly, one of the founders disagreed with something going on within the company and left it to create natures variety dog food. So in a way, natures variety is essentially a re-formulated solid gold

[Lyn]

shangrila, I did not know that. I know I looked at Natures Variety awhile ago but I decided not to try it. Probably due to an ingredient that Bubba doesn't do well with.

There are so many ingredients that just from trying a bunch of different foods that I know Bubba doesn't tolerate well. Barely, Potato/Sweet Potato, corn, wheat for sure. It's the protein sources that I'm not 100% sure about.

He's ok with Salmon (The Eagle Pack contains it) but did horrible on the Fromm salmon al la veg. Horrible on Natural Balance Duck and Potato. The potato for sure is an issue since we have tried other foods with potato with the same results.. could be the duck too though. We also tried the original Canidae. But it has chicken, turkey, lamb and herring. So I don't know which set his tummy off there. The entire Solid Gold line messed his tummy up pretty good.. But they all contain barely and a bunch of other grains.

I don't think I'm ever going to figure out what he's actually intolerant/allergic to. The vet would need to test for everything under the sun. LOL

BUT so far the California Natural is going ok. His poop is soft but I expect that from him. It doesn't seen to matter how slow I switch it's always like that at first. Lola is doing good with it though. She has a cast iron belly. Thank god at least I have one normal dog. LOL 

[doggylover]

I don't know a whole lot about food, but good luck finding the right one!