EVO still OK to feed?

[Melissa, Samson & Shelby]

I did a search on EVO and came up with a ton of old discussions.  I read through a bunch but am still left wondering so I decided to ask the question.  I have rotated foods for a for a year now, but switched to grain free to get the higher protein content a few months back.  My doodles started with Wellness Core, and we wanted to add another rotation so I purchased EVO.  Are doodle owners still using EVO? I know that many of you use Fromm, Arcana, and Orijen.  I haven't made the switch up to those yet.  With two 60 lbs dogs, I keep trying to stay away from that level of expense.  But I keep sliding up the slope into more and more expensive foods.  Has anyone seen any change in EVO since P&G bought the company?  Can I safely keep this in the rotation?  I use the chicken and turkey, not the fish variety. My doodles seemed to do well on Wellness Core (original recipe).

 

What grain free are people using, besides Fromm, Arcana, and Orijen? 

 

Thanks!

[Kim]

I know that Taste of the Wild is grain free, I don't know much about the company - but it is listed on the dog food analysis site as a 6 star food. I'm not sure how expensive it is either!!!!

[Tammy & Gracie]

I think that most of us that used the Evo/Innova products are planning to switch. Changes are expected to happen eventually with the manufacturing of the food. I am transitioning to Fromm. I also use Orijen.

[BG and Gavin]

I feed GO! Natural by Petcurean. It is grain free and recieved 6 Stars on the food analysis site. Where I live (Canada) it is a bit less expensive than Orijen. I have been very happy with this food, which is made by a company in British Columbia. I believe that it is widely available in the US. Here is the link to the company if you want to look: http://www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=195 The one drawback is that it does not come in different flavours, just the one. So if your dogs get bored easily...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Horizon Legacy is another grain-free food that looks good to me and is made by a Canadian company.
I'll post my feelings about Natura & the P & G buyout later when I have some time.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Echoing other sentiments, I would start finding another grain-free food. I wouldn't panic, but we are assuming that the changes are going to eventually happen (negative changes). Fromm only has one grain-free "Surf & Turf" flavor right now. I know some people like to switch their proteins within a brand just to keep things interesting.
TOTW is good, but there is a question about trace amounts of the preservative ethoxyquin. It is within guidelines, but Fromm, Arcana and Orijen and others we recommend do not preserve with this. Just to be SUPER safe, some of us Food Groupers switched from that.
I definitely think Orijen is a favorite. The Go! Natural mentioned above and Arcana are great.

[Rae]

We were also long time users of EVO - however, after talking with 3 different store owners and finding out that P&G can change up to 10% of the product without notifying anyone we made our switch now. We used what we had left to transition over to Orijen. Our Rozee weighs 72 lbs and Bella is at 40 lbs - we together they nearly match your two 60 lb kids. We find that we use less Orijen than we did EVO/Innova so we're feeling like the cost is close to the same - and our peace of mind is worth it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

By law, they also have 6 months to change the information on the bags if they change the formula. In other words, the actual ingredients in the food could be completely different from what the label says, and you would have no way of knowing.

[Melissa, Samson & Shelby]

Thanks for all of the feedback! I appreciate all the responses!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We still use EVO because I really like it for our dogs. It is expensive as far as I am concerned. I would not start using it because I think the quality is going to go way down, but I haven't begun the switch yet. Fromm and Orijen, Acana are not in my area.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I just opened a new bag of the EVO salmon and my dogs don't want to eat it. All four dogs are treating it the same way. Do you think the formula changed already in some way or perhaps they all just decided they don't like fish nowadays. It is a bit lower calorie than the chicken.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If all four are reacting the same way, and they never did this before, I would take it back to the store. Does it look & smell the same to you?
Natura stated that there would be no changes for a year, but they have no control over P & G. I don't know what to think. I would trust the dogs. If Jack did that, it wouldn't mean much, because he isn't always interested in his food. But I know you have a couple of chowhounds in your pack.
Very upsetting, this whole thing. Why couldn't they have found a private company to buy them out?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It does look and smell the same. And they are eating it but the chowhounds' reaction is just, "Blah blah, sniff," and then, "Oh well I will eat it but I will nibble." We went to the salmon because it is just a tad lower in calories.