# Acana Food Poisoning



## Kaja (Oct 1, 2016)

Thanks for sharing your sad story!

(This "made in Canada" - thing isn't the whole story, not only when it comes to dog food! -- just saying)

Hope your dogs gonna be fine soon and that there won't be any further issues because of that food.


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## Breiwynn (Sep 22, 2016)

I took a look at the thread on the GSD forums you mentioned Moltengirl. I have been feeding my GSD Acana for three years now and noticed that his stool is soft, sometimes runny. He shouldn't have had much of an upset stomach since we only rotate between Pacifica and Ranchlands (He has chicken allergies).

After reading this I will be looking into switching his food to Pulsar by Horizon Pet Food (Canadian, I have tried and and he seems to like it and did just fine with the sample packs provided), Satori or Fromm.

I'm very disappointed in Acana since I have been very loyal to the brand for years. I will definitely be feeding my GSD and Golden (when she's here) something else.


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## Artbuc1 (Sep 4, 2016)

I doubt your issue came from the food. The chances of both bags of different recipes being tainted are slim to none. Also, why weren't you withholding food instead of continuing to feed homemade food?When a dog is vomiting with diarrhea, you stop feeding for a couple days to let their system calm down.


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## Breiwynn (Sep 22, 2016)

Artbuc1 said:


> I doubt your issue came from the food. The chances of both bags of different recipes being tainted are slim to none. Also, why weren't you withholding food instead of continuing to feed homemade food?When a dog is vomiting with diarrhea, you stop feeding for a couple days to let their system calm down.


Artbuc1 made a good point.

When my dog is having stomach issues I fast him for at least 24 hours and feed him a bland diet (rice, chicken, bone broth) for a week.

You may want to check this article out: Here


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

One of our members who is a Vet posted this info about what to do when your dog has an upset stomach a few years ago-

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...dard/100015-what-do-about-stomach-upsets.html


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

We need to keep in mind that a fish based dog food may not be tolerated well by all dogs it may simply be too 'rich' for them, not every dog food is suited to every dog. It can be higher in protein and fat than other dog foods in this case the Pork diet was rated at min. 31% protein - min. 15 % fat vs. the Fish diet at min. 35% protein -min 17% fat. (It may not seem like much to us, but it can make all the difference for a dog.) There are also some dogs who can tolerate a limited amount of fish based dog food, others who cannot consume it all without suffering adverse side effects.

I have been feeding Acana dog food to my dogs (I had six dogs, I now have four) for almost 8 yrs. (using an average of 2 -30 lb bags a month (when I had six dogs) never had any problems with it. I did a trial run at one point with the Pacifica - none of them tolerated it well, so it is a food I don't feed them at all. 
Bottom line, sometimes it takes a bit of testing to figure out which foods your dog does well on, which ones are not 'right' for your dog. An adverse reaction does not necessarily indicate there something wrong with the food (or brand) but more than likely just not the right food for that dog.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

Sometimes... dogs just get sick. I'm not at all downplaying your pup's illness, but it may have had absolutely nothing to do with the food. If they changed the formula in January, well, that was 10 months ago. Why would he only react now? 

And even if the company changed formulas, it didn't add poison to the food, as your post implies. You changed from a pork based food to a fish based one. Maybe your pup just doesn't tolerate fish that well. It seems the big formula switches were to move from using fish and poultry meals to whole fish and meats. That GSD post also suggests the addition of catfish is something close to a crime. But humans eat catfish all the time.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I have also been feeding Acana for several years now. I like to switch varieties from time to time for a change. At one point I opted to try the Pacifica and neither of my 3 boys did well on it. They just don't do well on
fish based foods so went back to one of the others and have never had any issues. I will continue feeding Acana as I have no reason not to.


Hope your guy is feeling better!


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

I'm a grain-free Fromm user myself, but Acana is a pretty good brand and they have never had a recall due to contaminated food to date. There's no indication that the food was bad, only that your dog didn't tolerate the transition: either because he didn't tolerate that type of protein (many dogs don't tolerate fish), or because the food transition was too fast (I transition foods over 2-3 weeks personally, because changing a protein source wreaks havoc on a dog's GI flora, often causing nausea, vomiting, and severe diarrhea). Once diarrhea has started, any type of rich food will only make it worse (Acana is calorically very dense and one of the richest foods out there), so I'm not surprised that when you went back to the Acana pork your dog's symptoms got worse. Dogs will generally need strict GI rest for a few days, followed by a very bland diet (i.e., boiled rice and chicken), before they can go back to eating regular dog food (just like humans after a bad GI illness). 

As far as the ingredient changes go, I can see why people would be upset when a particular dog food was working for them, but there could be many reasons why Acana chose new fish sources besides just cutting costs. Pacifica is salmon based, and a lot of dogs do not tolerate salmon, so they may have been trying to broaden their base and go for what is more easily obtainable in the United States locally by switching to mackerel, a white fish that is still is high in good fats and calorically dense. Additionally, if Acana was choosing to continue to obtain ethically sourced fish--ethically sourced salmon is getting harder and harder to find these days, so they are also choosing responsible protein products. Mackerel is also rapidly growing fish--unlike salmon--and the gear used to fish it are efficient and unlikely to cause major habitat destruction...its a very up-and-coming fish these days. And catfish isn't a bad fish, its just not pretty, not expensive, and people have snobbish ideas about it. People think its beneath them. Catfish from the US is one of the most sustainable and ethical fish sources out there. For what its worth.


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## MoltenGirl (Aug 4, 2015)

Hello Everyone, 

Great responses. 

Just to be clear, my thread wasn't started with the intent of having everyone switch their food if they like this brand but rather, to educate everyone here that they are switching their ingredients without warning and certain dogs have become ill as a result. 

Also, I was very disappointed with Acana as a reaction when I told him what I experienced with both of my dogs. It wouldn't have killed him to apologize or at least acknowledge what had happened upon discovering that my dogs were sick. 

Artbuc1 in my rush of sharing my story, the timelines were off and I stopped feeding entirely. In fact, I didn't have to because both of my dogs had ZERO appetite and had emesis and diarrhoea therefore, there was no way I was going to feed them until they calmed down. And when I did begin to feed them the homemade diet, it was in very small amounts with more of the liquid broth than anything else. And regarding both bags being tainted, it's a very slim coincidence indeed, but one dog got Pacifica and the other got the Pork and Squash and BOTH were very sick. 

SweetGirl, again, my story is not shared with the intent of you switching your food if it's working for you only to educate that this company is switching ingredients without letting their consumers know. That's all. 

I posted here because when I discovered more information about this company, I thought I would share it here to prevent other dogs from becoming ill. And the fact that the company began the changes in January of this year, doesn't mean that it hits the market right away. 

Anyhow, this thread was posted in peace and provide education ....not to create drama.


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## Artbuc1 (Sep 4, 2016)

MoltenGirl said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> Great responses.
> 
> ...


Sorry your dogs got sick but you created drama by making ridiculous unfounded claims. I would guess your dogs were affected by a stomach virus. Internet dog forums are replete with these type of fantastic claims. These reports are not helpful or educational.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

MoltenGirl said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> Great responses.
> 
> ...


Just to clarify - I don't feed Acana. But I do think that perhaps the food had nothing at all to do with your dog being ill. Or that your dog simply didn't tolerate one or more of the fish, as that was a new protein source that you introduced. That happens. It's not the fault of the company.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Your posting "Acana Poisoning" should be changed to Acana changes ingredients. I'm sure you don't want repercussions from Champion Dog Food.


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## Piper_the_goldenpuppy (Aug 26, 2016)

MoltenGirl said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> Great responses.
> 
> ...


--I'm not surprised the Acana brand rep didn't apologize. There's no indication either of your dogs had a food-borne, Acana caused illness. There's nothing to apologize for. 1, an apology is considered by many to be an admission of guilt, thereby exposing Acana to unnecessary litigation for a viral illness, and 2, if Acana apologized to every person who didn't transition their dog food properly, got an unrelated GI virus or giardia, or whose dog didn't tolerate Acana, there would be no employees left to do anything other than apologize. None of these things are in any way their fault. 

--Its highly unlikely that both your dogs got sick from two separate tainted food bags. Its incredibly likely that your dogs had a GI virus that was completely unrelated to food period. People do this too though, and will say they got "food poisoning" because they ate in a restaurant, or happened to eat a meal before becoming violently ill, but food-borne pathogens are pretty rare, and its much more likely a person/persons got sick from coming into contact with sometiming in the environment that carried a virus. 

--If you say your post was posted in peace and education, you might want to review your original post and consider whether thats truly the case. "SHAME on ACANA," "I couldn't believe that the STUPID company would dare switch the formula without warning to consumers," "I am NO LONGER going to feed their poison to my dogs," do not seem to me like peaceful comments, but I interpreted as highly emotionally charged, inflammatory, and incorrect.


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## Kaja (Oct 1, 2016)

...maybe the intention was to educate and not creating drama?!?
And maybe emotions ran high at the time of writing?!?

Happened to me once or twice. 

just saying...


Just did some research (food advisor: posts from readers) and there are some dog owners who are not too impressed with the change. So there are obviously some dogs who do fine and some who don't. And it seems (seems!!) that's because of the new formular. 

It might be a good idea that a brand let their cosumer know about changes. Why not?


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

So glad to hear you dogs are doing better, unfortunately many dogs are not accepting the changes in the Acana and Orijen US formulas. It used to be many people freely routed the old formulas with no issues but cannot with the new ones. Some people were lucky to find a single formula that worked for them. They are using brand new protein sources and increased protein plant sources since they are going away from Meat meals and using just whole or dehydrated whole source meats.

Not necessarily bad but very different from the old formulas, I personally had really bad results trying to transition to the new formula with my dogs. And I started with less then a 1/4 cup out of their total of 3 cup a day. My cast iron stomach dog vomited on the new Orijen and both had explosive diarrhea just from that small amount I tried spreading it out over the day. But not all dogs do well on certain dog foods I am just sorry that I can no longer feed what I used to find an great food. If you read their facebook pages many owners have complained about the change and the dietary issues that it has caused on the US formulas. They have announced they plan to change the Canada formulas next year. I am researching dog foods right now as my stocked up Canadian bags will run out soon.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

I had to stop using the new Acana because Rusty was having big issues with the USA based foods. My Brittany and Pomeranian were fine with it, but Rusty was having stomach problems. He was throwing up at least once a week, and he was in pain during the day (due to acid being too strong in his stomach).

It's sad because I really like their products, but Rusty can't handle the new lines of Acana from the USA.


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## MoltenGirl (Aug 4, 2015)

Melfice, Altariss, & Kaja, thank you for understanding. 

Yes my emotions ran high at the time of the post and I will not be posting here again. I'm not surprised that traffic here is low. 

Certain people here need to learn how to respect others and allow expressions of opinions. Artbuc1, you are quite rude and I don't deserve your attitude. You are the one who not only lacks manners but respect. If anyone is creating drama here, it's you (among others). I'm allowed to express my opinion without being attacked. 

For the record, my Vet confirmed that my dogs did in fact have severe bacterial poisoning and BOTH bags were tested and came back positive for specific bacteria. 

I've requested this thread be closed. And I clearly see why those owning different dog breeds joined the German Shepherd Forum. They are far more respectful of forum members and welcome all opinions without chastising one another


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## Artbuc1 (Sep 4, 2016)

MoltenGirl said:


> For the record, my Vet confirmed that my dogs did in fact have severe bacterial poisoning and BOTH bags were tested and came back positive for specific bacteria.


Please post your vet & lab reports for all to benefit. Have you submitted the vet and lab report to Champion? What was the specific bacteria which caused the illness? On the 13th you said your vet was closed and you did not take the dogs to the hospital. Now you have a complete diagnosis from your vet, including a lab analysis. On the 15th you said it was indeed a slim possibility that both bags were tainted yet you did not mention you had submitted samples for analysis.

You say you are leaving because you want your opinions welcomed. I believe opinions are welcome here; but when you start a thread accusing Acana of poisoning your dogs you should offer facts, not opinions.


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