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This Is Why I Make Dog Food!

Oscar still eats puppy food so I don’t make his food. For Rita, I make her food – everything except the meat. When we feed her, we open the container that has rice, peas, carrots, pumpkin, etc. and dish up some of that. Then we add a bit of the commercial food for her protein. The reason I have been doing it that way is that she doesn’t eat a lot and mixing the meat and the rice mix together, I was concerned the meat would get bad before the rest of the food did.

Vince just opened one of the storebought containers, which we just received from Chewy. The expiration date is June, 2024. I can’t imagine what would have happened if we had kept this on the shelf til 2024. When Vince opened, it, the contents were a total liquid – jet black – and it spewed everywhere! It smelled like the worst thing we’ve ever smelled . . worse than ANYTHING! I have cleaned, sprayed with Clorox, wiped with Clorox, wiped with vinegar, wiped with Pine Oil, opened windows, lit candles . . the house still stinks! Thank goodness he didn’t open it over carpet.

Vince called the company and their response was basically “Sometimes that happens.” Apparently, they end up with bacteria sometimes in their lines or in the food and the lids don’t seal properly, air gets in and it all decays and just rots . . I’m so frustrated with them right now. The lady was very nice but if this “sometimes happens”, something seems very wrong, in my opinion.

The worst part is that before we could get it cleaned up, Oscar got in there and licked some of it off the floor so now I have to worry about him getting sick.

You can bet I’ve bought the last dog food I’ll ever buy and will make 100% of the food for both of them from now on.

As much as I detest going to the dentist, I’m happy to leave this stinking house for a few hours – even if it means sitting in a dental chair.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. EWWWW That is just gross. Thanks for letting us know. Hopefully Oscar did not lick enough of it to get sick.

  2. set out some jars with vinegar in them. Baking Soda also gets rid of odors like that. It may take a while, but I know you have those things on hand and it will not hurt to do it. You might try some essential oils also. I think you need to let the USDA know about this. I don’t care if it is for dogs, they need to put a recall on each can of this stuff so other dogs don’t get sick. I am hoping Oscar doesn’t have any bad effects from this! Bless his heart!

    • I learned a long time ago that trying to get service on issues like this is like beating your head against a brick wall. It’s not worth my effort. We have about 5 cases of this dog food here because with shortages, I didn’t want to run out of Rita’s food but we’re sending them all back. Don’t want anything to do with that company any more. It was NOT Science Diet . I do still trust them.

  3. Oh my – that’s terrible. AND, sure don’t like the customer service’s response to the issue :-(.

  4. I use Honest Kitchen dog food, it is a dehydrated food you mix with water, that is human grade dog food. I add a small amount of poached chicken breast to it. I do not use the grain free formula; I use the turkey formula. I have been very happy with it and have used it for 10 years plus. It has cleared up the skin issues my rescued mini schnauzer had when we got him.

    • I use the Honest Kitchen too. Absolutely the best dehydrated food and once it’s mixed up, it even smells good. After you buy so many boxes of the HK, they give you a free box too. It’s hard to find, but worth it, they also have recipes on their website for dog treats & etc.

  5. We only get the girl’s food at a local pet store Tailwaggins in Georgetown. Diane stays on top of things. Any food that comes in her store. Dog treats made from top quality ingredients etc. Our 17 year old Tiki is loving her new food. Pup above and yes it is done sous vide. At her age she’s worth it!!!!

    • I’ll check the pet store in Carthage and see what they have. Thanks.

  6. We make our own food for our 11 pound terrier, Abbie, who is 9 years old. She LOVES her food and its really showing in her energy levels, coat and teeth. All the food is human grade, we know where every single bit came from and could eat it ourselves if we wanted (except there is no seasoning as that is NOT good for dogs). I wish I’d done this many, many years ago with previous fur babies – although we have always purchased the highest quality food (and gave a variety so they never were bored with it) it never occured to me to just cook the food for them. It’s one of my biggest regrets!

    • Probably 15 years ago, Speck was having a lot of tummy problems and I started making his food and made it through his life. Rita came along and she ate the homemade food but with the move and the time spent between here and Texas, I ended up making part of her food and then mixing it with what I thought was a good quality meaty food. Lesson learned with what happened yesterday thought.

      I did my research on Honest Kitchen that a reader recommended yesterday. It’s dehydrated and has a one year shelf life but I feel like if I vacuum seal it in jars, it will last even longer so I did order some of that. I know it sounds crazy but I find myself scrambling to keep food in the freezer for Rita and once Oscar gets off puppy food and I start making his food . . I’m not looking forward to that so I’m excited to try the Honest Kitchen food.

      • Judy, Honest Kitchen is absolutely wonderful! It’s the only food that we don’t make ourself as we’ve purchased it for many years. Its made in human food grade facilities, the vets are always surprised as its spendy but agree that its excellent food. Our dogs have always loved it and I know that its balanced nutrition-wise. Abbie gets a small amount of that at night, mixed with hot water, and the rest of her usual foods. Yes, it will last a long, long time if you vacuum seal it in jars. They make a fish only (no grains) and several others, but because of Abbie’s allergies to chicken we’ve limited it to the fish. We also add taurine to her food every morning. Years ago when vets were recommending NO GRAINS the foods were reformulated and dogs were no longer getting taurine in their foods, leading to heart conditions. Our dogs have received taurine for years, as well as breaking up a large brewers yeast tablet in half (Cosequin), which Abbie thinks is a treat. The vet highly recommended the tablets years ago, especially for dogs who have had a broken leg. Our Abbie broke her leg 2 weeks before my husband did, and our grandpup was hit by a car & it was a BAD break. Both dogs can now run like greyhounds….they do figure 8’s in our backyard to show off. We buy the largest tablets for huge dogs and break it down – saves money.

  7. I’ll 2nd Honest Kitchen. I buy the “Limited Ingredients”. Chewey has it.

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