Experience with Merrick foods?

[JRT_Rattie_Mom]

Hi all!

Just wondering if any of you have used Merrick canned food? Saw this brand mentioned several times on a home-cooked dog food list I'm on to fill in with home-cooked diets:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/store/canned_dog_food.php

I am still researching, plus experimenting with home-cooking for my dogs, but the Merrick canned foods make me want to quit cooking completely... and buy these by the case for both humans (just kidding!) AND dogs!

I read that Merrick will be coming out with a dry food kibble very soon... and if their kibble looks as good as the canned foods do... I will definitely need to try this when it is available!

 

[Renee750il]

Karen, I went to the website and it does sound like it's delicious . . . but . . . although I saw the 'magic words,' "Human Grade," when looking for the other part of the equation - 'organic' - I found only this:

"At Merrick, we strive to provide good nutrition through natural ingredients, and we do this by not adding any preservatives, additives or artificial colors to our products. All of our Merrick canned dog foods use Human Grade ingredients [sic]"

The statement says the ingredients are 'natural,' but all that means is they aren't synthetic. Notice how they carefully state that the company adds no preservatives, additives or artificial colors? Nothing at all about using ingredients that have not already been soaked in pesticides, herbicides or injected or fed with growth hormones, antibiotics and all the other goodies our food is treated with before harvest.

 

[JRT_Rattie_Mom]

Renee,

Thanks for your input I sent an email to Merrick asking for more detail on the ingredients being organic etc. and will see what they say. I'm still just taking "baby steps" towards the home cooking, and am really wondering now if I want to do it at all! I rarely ever buy "organic" grown meat/vegetables for "us" humans when I'm shopping for foods (the prices are so not in my budget!) so it seems that maybe the kibble (that IS suppose to be all from organic etc.) might be better in the long run, if I can't afford to buy the organic meats/veggies to cook?

The girls are both doing really well with the new kibble, and now both love the new little toppings each night of plain yogurt mixed with sardines, canned salmon etc. Now that they love the yogurt, tomorrow I'm going to try adding pulped veggies and see how that goes. Lucy HATES anything in the veggie family... so I'm hoping that with her new love of yogurt it will cover up those ugly healthy "green things" and she won't notice them!

The statement says the ingredients are 'natural,' but all that means is they aren't synthetic. Notice how they carefully state that the company adds no preservatives, additives or artificial colors? Nothing at all about using ingredients that have not already been soaked in pesticides, herbicides or injected or fed with growth hormones, antibiotics and all the other goodies our food is treated with before harvest.

 

[Renee750il]

The non-organic stuff isn't, I know, good for us either, but I'm like you - I just can't afford a lot of it. Luckily, we've got two freezers full of our own organic beef and I buy most of my produce (during the long season) at the local farmers' market where most of the growers are small local farmers who can't afford the expensive chemicals used by the large corporate farms.

My concern with the organic nature of the food is, for my dogs, a great desire to avoid problems later in life, particularly skin problems. In your case, I'd worry that little Lucy is particularly vulnerable.

By the way, is Holly still being Lucy's "guardian" when you go to the park?

You should see my bunch jockey for position to get my yogurt container that I've left a few bites in. They love yogurt, especially the Yoplait blackberry, which makes sense considering the girls pick blackberries with me in the summer. (lol)

My Mom had a cat once, CJ, who had what could only be characterized as irritable bowel syndrome. Nothing helped until we caught him drinking out of a glass of buttermilk Mom had poured for herself. After that, as long as he had either some buttermilk or yogurt every day, he had no more bowel problems.

 

[JRT_Rattie_Mom]

The non-organic stuff isn't, I know, good for us either, but I'm like you - I just can't afford a lot of it. Luckily, we've got two freezers full of our own organic beef and I buy most of my produce (during the long season) at the local farmers' market

My concern with the organic nature of the food is, for my dogs, a great desire to avoid problems later in life, particularly skin problems. In your case, I'd worry that little Lucy is particularly vulnerable.

By the way, is Holly still being Lucy's "guardian" when you go to the park?

You are so lucky to have your own beef, and know exactly what you are getting! I do buy local produce from our farmers market during the summer months (but summer sure goes by too fast!)

I had this message from Merrick customer service this morning:
"The Buffalo and the Campfire trout are hormone free. None of the ingredients are organic in any of the foods. Hope this helps. I do not have information as to antibiotic free on the Buffalo and trout - just hormone free."

I am worried about complications with Lucy down the road, so I am leaning more and more towards just staying with the "organic kibble" and just continue to add the yogurt w/the assorted goodies added for a "topping" to their kibble at night. This is SO simple for me, and they love it! As much as I WANT to do a home cooked diet, with the organic food prices, plus driving myself crazy on "what supplements" I would need to add IF I were to go to a totally home cooked diet... and of course with everyone has a different opinion!

LOL! Yes, Holly STILL wants to be Lucy's guardian at the dog park! It had gotten to the point I was totally embarrassed with the aggressive "sounding" barking, and had to start picking Holly up for a "time out" (she won't bark if I'm holding her) whenever she does it. The "humping" thing has really improved by about 90%... so that is a big relief! Holly is still the tennis ball guardian, chasing down that ball whenever it is stolen, LOL, and I'm behind her 100% on that one! I never got any good pictures of them playing ball at the dog park (they move so darn fast!) but did get a couple that are okay, where they are playing in the hallway at home. You can see Holly trying to give Lucy the ball... in her silly routine! I just put them up on http://www.dogster.com/?81610 so you can see them

 

[Renee750il]

Maybe if you stick with the organic kibble (didn't you say you've been feeding Canidae?) with "dressings" you can satisfy your urge to give them a home cooked diet by fixing them a special meal once or twice a week.

You know, if there are any small local beef farmers near you, you can probably buy a beef. There should be at least one good, reputable processor in the area to handle all the butchering, and you pick it up deep frozen, dash it home and stick it in a big, empty freezer. If you have a friend or family member who would want to split it with you, so much the better. If you want more info, e-mail me and I'll be happy to let you know about things to ask or answer any questions I can.

 

[JRT_Rattie_Mom]

Maybe if you stick with the organic kibble (didn't you say you've been feeding Canidae?) with "dressings" you can satisfy your urge to give them a home cooked diet by fixing them a special meal once or twice a week.

You know, if there are any small local beef farmers near you, you can probably buy a beef.

Yes, they are both on Canidae now. I do think just adding the "dressings" will make me feel I'm doing something good for them. I would love to be able to buy beef from a farmer. Right now I don't have a place to put a freezer. My husband is a contractor and operates from home for now (office, storage etc.) so my garage is totally full of building materials. He has a big contract coming up in January and will be going into a partnership with another guy. They plan to rent a regular building with office space & storage... so there might be hope soon for room for a freezer though!