Opinion about Acana ?

[lior.f]

Hello !

I'm currently feeding Acana Premium and I want to hear some opinions about this food. I know its not the best but it is better than eukanuba,thats what I used to feed before.

[Prin]

Originally Posted by Acana Premium Adult

Chicken meal (low ash), steamed oatmeal, ground whole rice , chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, citric acid and rosemary), rice bran, ground flaxseed (source of Omega 3), beet pulp, herring oil (natural source of DHA and EPA), chicken broth, yeast extract (Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles), chicory root (FOS), steamed sweet potato, dried whole egg, yucca shidigera, glucosamine HCl (powdered lobster shell), chondroitin sulfate (shark cartilage), marigold extract (source of lutein), L-carnitine supplement, Atlantic kelp, carrots, tomatoes (natural source of lycopene), apples, whole garlic, parsley, rosemary extract, cranberry, sea salt, potassium chloride, choline chloride, lysine, vitamin A supplement, dl alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E), methionine, vitamin D3 supplement, *iron Bioplex™, *zinc Bioplex™, *manganese Bioplex™, biotin, *copper Bioplex™, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin K supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), vitamin B12, folic acid. *chelated mineral

http://www.championpetfoods.com/dogs/premium_adult.aspx

It's a bit grainy, but not terrible. The rice might be the #1 ingredient because they broke it into parts (I put them in blue). It's got the whole tomato and not just the pomace, as well as whole eggs, not egg product, which are both good, but then it's got beet pulp (stool hardener). Beet pulp isn't horrible, but it's something to try to avoid, if possible, IMO.

Cranberry to help with urinary pH.. Not necessary, but ok.

The yeast is unnecessary and might disrupt the natural yeast balance in the doggy (I still don't know why they put that in there ).

Citric acid can cause bloat, especially if the food is wet before serving.

Why is there so much rosemary in it?

It seems a bit salty- with the kelp and extra sea salt afterward too.. Not sure why they added even more.

It's got menadione (most likely) hidden as a vitamin K supplement. There are a couple of threads on menadione, or vitamin K3, here, but the main issue is that it can cause free radicals, which can lead to tumors or cancers... But if you supplement with antioxidants, you should be ok (vitamin E is an example of an antioxidant).


All in all, it has some pros and some cons, but is wayyyyy better than Euk.

[lior.f]

Thank you so much for your answer Prin. For a 50lb, 4yrs old boxer female should I choose acana premium or acana large breed ?

How do I find a natural source of vitamin E ?

[Prin]

I'd say the premium. For some reason, they expect you to feed almost double on the large breed formula than on the Premium. The ingredients are almost the same.

(usually the idea behind the large breed formulas is that it's more dense, so you feed less, but not this one for some reason... )

[lior.f]

Is olive oil a good source of vitamin E ? She gets 1 tablespoon of olive oil twice a week. Should I give her more ?

[Prin]

Olive oil is a good source of vitamin E (along with sweet potatoes, asparagus, uncooked spinach), but I'm not sure how much olive oil is safe to give.

[rainbow]

Acana is made by Champion Pet Foods in Alberta, Canada. They have just come out with a very good food called Orijen. Does the store where you purchase the Acana Premium have it in stock yet?

http://www.championpetfoods.com/orijen/about/

[Prin]

I like the Orijen ingredients overall... Too bad they don't have any poultry-free ones for my Boo.

Their large breed puppy formula has too much calcium though.

[SuperWanda]

I contacted Champion and Orijen foods use the K1 supplement, not K3. So not to worry about menadione. I'm not sure about the Acana but they are very fast at responding to any questions you have - which I like!

I have been using the Orijen now for a week. At first, when I started to use it one of my dogs got a hot spot. She has always had allergies but I was never sure what was causing them - was it grains?, chicken?, environmental?, maybe a combination? - I decided to try the food again - just in case that paticular hot spot was not due to chicken and so far both my dogs are doing well on it.

I really liked the ingredients in the Orijen and they really love this food! I also like the fact that they manufacture the food in their own plant!

I'll update after they have been using it for a longer period of time. One of my dogs has a very sensitive stomach and the other has allergies.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by SuperWanda

I really liked the ingredients in the Orijen and they really love this food! I also like the fact that they manufacture the food in their own plant!

That's a bonus. Go Natural (Petcurean) usus their own maufacturing plant as well in Abbotsford, B.C. They are coming out with a food similar to Orijen as well.

[SuperWanda]

Really!?! - is there any information on that new food rainbow? I liked the look of the fish one but all the talk here about toxic salmon scared me away from it.

That's why I am trying the Orijen. If that doesn't work i think I'll try the Innova Evo Red meat one but as for availability the Orijen is much easier to find and it is less expensive.

I think I have developed a fondness for foods made in Canada and I'd be very interested in seeing what Petcurean has to offer!

Lior - this is the reply I got from Champion foods about the Orijen, so maybe Acana also contains the K1 because they do make both of these foods.

We have not used Menadione for some time now. Any food with vitamin K supplement uses K1 (not K3).

Regards,
Peter

[rainbow]

Really!?! - is there any information on that new food rainbow? I liked the look of the fish one but all the talk here about toxic salmon scared me away from it.

I emailed Michelle at Petcurean for information on Friday so should get an answer in a couple of days. I stay away from the fish based foods as well.

We have not used Menadione for some time now. Any food with vitamin K supplement uses K1 (not K3).

Wow....I'm impressed. When I first emailed Peter last year his first reply was that the K3 was necessary for blood clotting. After a couple more emails he finally agreed to look into it further. I just might send him another email.


BTW, what is the price for a large bag of Orijen? And how much do you feed an 80lb. dog?

[lior.f]

I wrote to Champion foods about buying Orijen here and they put me in contact with the guy who brings in Acana. He said that Champion foods sent him 10 bags of Orijen for his own dogs to try it first and in couple of months he will start to import it on a large scale but first he needs to work on the right marketing because grains free is a new concept here and it will be the first kind of it on the market. So for now I wait, with the hope that everything will go right and I'll see it on the shelves.

[rainbow]

Good luck and I hope all goes well for Killy. Keep us posted.

BTW, regarding the vitamin e supplementation, I would email Peter at Champion to verify if the vitamin k supplement is k1 or k3. If it's k1 there is no need to give vitamin e. If it's k3 then I would check with your vet for a safe dose. I would think 200 IU/day would be okay but check to make sure.

[SuperWanda]

Lior - good luck with the orijen and acana. I will update this in a few months to let everyone know how my two are doing on this food. Grain-free is a relatively new thing here too - not really the mainstream option in petfoods as far as I can tell. I'm also going to ask my vet about it since I have an apt. tomorrow. Just to see what her opinion is.

Rainbow - I am still waiting for petland to carry the larger sized bags. Apparently there are a few smaller stores which have just recieved the larger bags so I will let you know the cost. It is not that practical for me to be feeding two 60lb dogs with these smaller bags!

Right now I have been purchasing the 5.5lb or 2.5kg size bags for $14.47

So, for a 80 lb dog, let's see cause they only have it in kg. 80 lbdog =36kg

For weight maintenance they suggest:

235-330g / 2-2.75cups for 20-35kg dog

330-440g / 2.75-3.5cups for 35-50kg dog

The caloric content is 3600 kcal/kg (410 kcal per 250ml cup) with 50% energy derived from protein, 25% derived from fruit and veggies and 25% from fat.

[rainbow]

Yeah, I certainly understand the cost of feeding as I have a 58 lb.and an 85 lb. that is still growing.

I really like the ingredients in Orijen and I hope we can get it here. Good luck at your end and I'll look forward to your updates.

[SuperWanda]

Hi - I just thought I would pass along the information my vet gave me today.

I took my Orijen bag along and she looked at the ingredients. She has her own dog on a higher protein diet as well - 35% protein because he had looser stools and she wanted to give him more protein/ less carbs to firm up the stool. She said that as long as your dog is healthy that a higher protein diet is fine. Today - there is a lot of talk about low carb, higher protein diets and it is known that these diets help to prevent diabetes and heart problems.

She thought that the list of botanicals in the Origen were good - she told me what each one is for and that there were good studies on those ingredients. She said to watch for an increased thirst because if your dog is wanting to consume a lot of water the level of protein may be harder on the kidneys but if the dog is healthy to begin with it shouldn't be a problem.

She also said to watch the stool. Some higher protein diets can constipate and more fibre helps to move things along in the colon. Again, it just depends on the dog.

The last thing she said was that some dogs may lose weight on this diet - again, this may be good for some dogs and bad for others. One of my dogs has a tendancy to gain weight and my husky/hound cross has a tendancy to lose weight, especially in the winter - so more carbs may actually be beneficial for her.

As long as they are enjoying it she didn't see why those levels of protein would be a problem.

[rainbow]

Thanks for the update....that's good to know and finally a vet that doesn't push Medi-Cal or Science Diet.

[chase de bull]

Hello guys. Just want to update this thread. Any new comments either positive or negative on this food?

I tried a sample pack and i was amazed by the smell. My dogs love it. Its cheaper than innova, canidae, euka, hills and ep. Im planning to switch to acana from canidae. Any comments?

[Scott_B]

Canidae is a far better product. I'd stick with that.

[meb999]

The only Acana formula that is as good as Canidae is their Orijen (the high protein formula)

ingredients :
Fresh chicken meat, chicken meal (low ash), turkey meal, steamed russet potato, fresh-caught Northern Whitefish, chicken fat, fresh whole eggs, salmon meal, salmon and anchovy oils, tapioca, chicken broth, sunflower oil, flaxseed, Atlantic kelp, steamed carrots, spinach, peas and tomatoes, sun-cured alfalfa, apple fiber, psyllium seed, rosemary extract, yeast extract (MOS), glucosamine HCl, cranberries, black currants, chondroitin sulfate.

TONIC HERBS AND BOTANICALS
Chicory, burdock and marshmallow root (FOS), rosehips, stinging nettle, marigold flowers, L-carnitine, fennel seed, chamomile flowers, milk thistle, chickweed, summer savory.

ORGANIC MINERALS
Iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate.

PROBIOTIC MICROORGANISMS
Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium (B. bifidus), Saccharomyces (S. boulardii).

PREMIUM VITAMINS
Mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), choline chloride, vitamin A, vitamin D3, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12, folic acid, biotin, pyridoxine (source of vitamin B6).

[erykah1310]

I fed Acana to my cats for a while... not doing that again... all of them ended up with some wild diareah and started shedding like mad ... not sure about being food related or not, but that was what happened here after a month of it....
I switched!

[chase de bull]

Thanks meb999. I wonder why ACANA products are made in alberta and many canadian are not aware of this product.
Is it better than eagle pack, eukanuba, royal and hills?

[rainbow]

Their Orijen formula is better than all those.

[SuperWanda]

I am still feeding the Orijen and am very happy with it.

My dogs haven't gotten sick of it yet - they still gobble it up like the first day I introduced it.

[mtbikr59]

i was feeding acana puppy and junior untill last week,from 9 weeks to 16weeks.i switched his food because i figured it must have a lot of filler food in it as he as was pooping 3 to 4 times a day,and large stools too.i thought it was supposed to be really good food,but my vet said it must have fillers in it because of his pooping so much,,anyone else see that as well?

[geisha]

How much are you feeding? If you overfeed it can lead to many, many more poos.

[mtbikr59]

i was going by the bags instructions,it said from 3 1/4 to 5 cup per day,,for his weight and age,i was giving him 4 cups.im going with my vets suggestion to go with medi-cal adolesent large breed.,i originally was going to go with orijen ,but they said i should use acana puppy and junior food.,i liked the fact its made here in canada,alberta,,but then i found out medi-cal is made here in ontario,guelph.

[Marty11]

Someone mentioned Canadian Food? Has anyone tried GO NATURAL? They make salmon, chicken, duck, and now grain free, and also NOW that has lower protein in it. I have been using the chicken and duck, but I am going to try Orijen for the first time. I have issues with my Boston. I will report back in a month or so.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by mtbikr59

i was going by the bags instructions,it said from 3 1/4 to 5 cup per day,,for his weight and age,i was giving him 4 cups.im going with my vets suggestion to go with medi-cal adolesent large breed.,i originally was going to go with orijen ,but they said i should use acana puppy and junior food.,i liked the fact its made here in canada,alberta,,but then i found out medi-cal is made here in ontario,guelph.

Your first idea was the good one , to go with Orijen. Medi-Cal (like most of the other vet food) is full of fillers and much too expensive for it's quality.