Kirkland Canned food - Would you buy it?

[Shanthala Rajagopala]

Hey Everyone,

We are Costco members and came across Kirkland dog food in their store. Price is real cheap and read about it on dogfoodanalysis and it is rated pretty high. My puppies are doing fine now on Taste Of The Wild(actually I am transition one from California Natural) and I am not going to change to Kirkland's dry food. However, I always mix a little bit say a tablespoon of canned food in their food. Right now, I am using California Natural's canned food which is $2/can. The Kirkland's canned food comes to 60cents/can...pretty cheap. I know they were on recall list in 2007...So, I am very hesitant to try it.
So, wanted to know what would all do? Would you be willing to try it? Would you think it is safe now?

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hi Shanthala! I think that it might be of great benefit to you to hop on over to the food group ~ there is so much information already there you can not even imagine. Also I wanted to say that I do not ever think you should rely on one source to rate a food you are considering ~ when viewing these you may want to check the date the rating was done, not only are some internet ratings from pre'07 recalls but there has been a tremendous shift in ingredients over the last year as well as manufacturers. As for would I use Kirkland food, for us personally it would not be a choice. To put a twist on cost, they usually eat less of quality food, have fewer incidents that will result in significantly larger medical costs than a can of food, they will likely add time and quality in their years as our companion and more, so the question really is can we afford NOT to feed them premium food. Humbly stepping down now ~ Dianne

P.S. Over a half a lifetime ago I grew up in Ohio (North East) though I cannot place your city, where is that?

[Shanthala Rajagopala]

Hi Dianne, Thanks for the reply. Yes, I agree with you. That is one of the reasons that our puppies are fed Taste of the Wild and California Natural. Actually, I got all these information on doodlekisses:-) I did not know anything about differences in dog foods before. But I was curious because the ingredients in Kirkland food looks good ( except for beet pulp) so, was wondering how is that huge price difference.
Cincinnati is at the border of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

I only looked at your location on your page, I did not realize it was near Cincinnati = ) Check out a post of about a week ago in the food group on commercial food, the good, the bad... I made a couple of recommendations to a puppy owner and one of them you may have an interest in. Feel free to drop me a line if you would like any further information that I may be able to help you with.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Out of curiousity Ann do you know if the Kirkland kibble shares the same manufacturer? I know in many respects Canada has significantly less chemical additives that are approved for use in any product than the U.S., but on any of those chemicals that may be inclusive in imports I do not know. Also it is not unusual for the kibble and the canned to be sourced out to different manufacturers so it could be that they are not made by the same company.

Please also know that I am not saying anyone is wrong in their choice, it just would not be mine. So many factors are involved, some dogs are more susceptible to some health concerns, some are not and sometimes it is only revealed when in combination with other factors like diet, environment, etc... Just like people ~ some smoke, eat fried foods, don't exercise or sleep properly and live to a ripe old age and every now and then someone who is 35 and does everything right drops dead of a heart attack with no previous symptoms. You just never know. Here in the States a bag of Kirkland kibble costs $15-$20, all past history aside I guess my main concern pertains to the expense involved in prudent quality control ~ will shortcuts be taken in assuring quality in order to maintain the affordability to consumers while still making profit?