New & improved recipe

So, what does it mean when the food you have used off & on but mostly on ( ) for years suddenly has a big sticker smacked on thE front of the bag stating -

New & impoved recipe ?..

You'd be forgiven for thinking - it doesn't mean a lot. It's a company that knows this food is specific to dogs with sensitivities so they know to keep any changes to a minimum - right? Wrong.

Your dog's skin turns bright red all over and they itch un- controllably. I have seen this reaction before in a dog that took a reaction to antibiotics

You stop the food immediately and in meantime start to home cook......

By coincidence you hear of someone elses dog on the same food who is having Dietary issues so you phone the company & voice your concerns to be told that the recipe has not changed? You tell them that you have a small bag of the old recipe and one of the new recipe and there are visible changes on the packets. They tell you that new legislation means that they have to detail everything they put into food and it's not the case the food has changed but that they now have to state exactly what goes into it whereas before they just showed some of the ingredients This is despite the fact the kibble looks and smells different?

You ask if anyone else has contacted them voicing concerns and are told that no one has raised concerns about skin problems.

They ask if you did a slow transfer from the old recipe to the new recipe bags, you are a bit slow on the uptake and miss the obvious - if, as they say, the recipe has not changed, why would you need to do any (slow) changeover????

They suggest you try one of their other foods and say they will send out samples (still waiting) even though you tell them your dog is better kept off grains & cereals - this other food is corn based.

Bottom line is we no longer have any faith in this company and I have been recommending them for years. As soon as my boy went onto a home cooked food his skin problem died right down/away

So.... Wafcol has let their customers down who relied on this food to suit pets with sensitivities.

One of the main benefits of feeding either a raw or home cooked diet is that YOU are in control over the ingredients!

Have you considered that your dog may have developed a sensitivity to one of the ingredients if he has been on the same recipe for years?

Also Wafcol do not hold the monopoly in the sort of diet you were feeding.......there are other providers.

I agree with SB, I prefer rawfeeding partly because I know what my dog is eating!!

I choose to buy 'ingredients' rather than a 'recipe' partly for exactly the type of reason you state above.

Anythings possible SB however I know for a fact we are not the only ones to have an affected dog, the other dog we know about has digestive issues

I have just received a big bag of food from them with two varieties of food, ocean fish & corn and chicken & corn so they were true to their word when the said they would send samples

However I had already ordered and received a bag of food from another company as recommended by a member on here with Boxers - Reuben. I was not only impressed by the aroma coming from this kibble but also by the fact that I had two drooling Boxers at my feet PLUS three cats all wanting share.

Raw, we did that for over year but lt didn't agree with any of the dogs - we had three then. As have mentioned before in other threads, Harvey does still get occasional chicken wings - have some defrosting at the minute, however a diet completely raw, was unfortunately, not a success.

If this kibble we got today does not agree, will probably
just home cook for Harvey, however I have good
expectations for it, so much so I intend to order some of their cat kibble.

Well, my bag of new Wafcol did not even have "New and Improved Recipe" on it.........apparently it was from the first run, and they had not got around to it.

Some people may have read my threads over the past couple of weeks about Wafcol food being totally different in smell and appearance - the end result for Jimmi was that he went back to massively excessive drinking, and also itching. He didn't go so far as to have bright red skin, but I think that if I hadn't taken him off the food he would have done. He couldn't leave his ears alone, and was licking and biting at his flanks and legs.

Wafcol told me that the recipe had changed "slightly" but there was nothing that would cause his reaction. If this is the case, why did he then go back to normal the minute I stopped feeding it? They also said that they had had no other negative feedback, but during one of my phone calls the lady on the switchboard said that they were inundated with calls about the new formula. I suspect that some of those were people concerned about the strong meaty smell, but I just don't believe that VB and I are the only ones with dogs who have suffered a bad reaction.

Jimmi is now on Fish4dogs Salmon & Potato, and is as right as rain thank goodness.

Wow this is probably why Arthur had been so ill

Were you feeding the old recipe perfectly happily, and then had major problems with a new bag?

If three of us so far on this site have had bad reactions, then just think how many people there must be around the place who have poorly dogs..........and all because an accountant somewhere probably told them to cut costs

Jimmi not only had the problems that I mentioned above, but he was also not a well dog. He was sick, and was very sorry for himself.

By tomorrow Harvey will be on his new food totally.

I find it interesting that when soaked, it does not swell at all. Just stays the same as it was. Any other dry food I have ever fed including prescription diets have swollen to at least half their size.

All the terrible frantic itching has gone and his skin is almost back to normal colour, he even has time now to seek out his squeaky toy and wander round squeaking it

I'm hopeful that he will do ok on this food

Let's hope so, it must be awful to have dogs with these terrible allergies and skin problems.

Sorry to hear that Arthur has been affected too, I hope you find a food that suits him. It is bad enough when they have sensitivities without the feed they have been on for some time being changed and causing upset