The Honest Kitchen, need advice

[kit02]

I recently learned about Force from the Honest Kitchen from here and was so excited about it! So I go buy the biggest container they sell, have been trying it for a few weeks but something about it is just not agreeing with Owen. I doubt they would take the opened container back, oh well, that’s what I get for buying the biggest size before a trial run 1st! I was feeding him about ½ cup of this mixed with homecooking for dinner for a couple of weeks. Every night, about 1-2 hours after eating he would throw up once, a very tiny bit, burping and his stomach was very unsettled for the night. So then I tried giving him this meal for lunch instead for a few days, same exact thing after lunch. For the other 2 meals he’s been getting some kibble mixing with homecooking - he has no problems with those meals. Now the only ingredient in Force that he’s never had before is Papayas. Do you think he may be allergic to that or something? Or it’s just this food in general doesn’t agree with him? Or anything else I may not know about?
Thanks for any advice you can give me!

 

[JulieM]

That is odd; papayas contain digestive enzymes, but you wouldn't think that would cause stomach upset....

You may want to call the Honest Kitchen folks - I don't think they'd be able to take back the opened container, either, but they may have run across this issue before and might have some advice for you. (Maybe there's something in the combination of the Force & homecooked that's the problem, or maybe the consistency when the food is rehydrated.)

Have you tried feeding only Force as a meal? That would at least let you know with certainty if the Force itself it is the problem.

 

[BeckyNC]

Did you buy the bag from an independent pet store? Mine,where I buy Canidae, will give me my money back if the food does not work out. Perphaps, if you bought from a store, they'll do the same. My pet store will even give me my money back if Tae didn't like a bully stick, etc.

I would think that even though papaya contains digestive enzymes, it is still possible for Owen to have difficulty with it.

 

[Ozzie]

Hey Kim:

It seems to me that the food just maybe isn't agreeing with him. I've been following posts related to these dehydrated foods and I, like you, have purchased some Honest Kitchen food.

I just don't like the consistency of the stuff. It smells good enough to eat, and Ozzie ate it, but I've decided to not give it to him anymore.

I've been having a much easier time using Happydog, which I've mentioned before in several posts, but not many people seem to be using... It is dehydrated, just like HK, and it ends up looking like a bowl of mixed rice when it's time to feed. It's just easier to deal with than HK, in my opinion.

From what you've described, my guess is it may not just be the papayas; it may be the whole package.

Bob.

 

[kit02]

I purchased this directly from The Honest Kitchen website. I just emailed them explaining what happened and asked if I can return it. Can Shelters accept opened food?

Have you tried feeding only Force as a meal? That would at least let you know with certainty if the Force itself it is the problem.

I was thinking of doing that but Owen has been eating the homecooking part for a long time now with no problems, by itself and mixed with some kibble.

Thanks for the feedback! Force just isn’t for Owen unfortunately. I guess the only way to tell if it’s the papayas is to give him that separately and see how he reacts to it?

 

[kit02]

Well they emailed me back and they will take this back. They also suggested this:

If you want to try to persevere with the Force, you could try cutting
right back on the feeding amount and mixing just a little of it with his
kibble for a few days, to give him some time to adjust.
A little plain yogurt or a digestive enzyme (Animal Essentials makes a
great one) might also help the transition. Some people also find it
helps to lightly cook the food to begin with, to help a sensitive dog's
system to better assimilate the ingredients then you can begin to feed
it without cooking after a week or two.

Though I think I'm just going to return it since I can. Owen seems to have a pretty hardy stomach - I feed him a whole variety of thing with no problems - but after eating this he was just not himself and don't really feel like trying it on him anymore. It's too bad b/c I really liked the idea behind this product. Maybe I'll give HappyDog a try but this time buy a very small bag of it to start

 

[Lmuglia]

I must thank you for this post as I just ran up here to check to see if anyone else had any problems with Honest Kitchen. No offense to the company - I'm not sure what's happening. I started feeding Grace HK about 3 weeks ago and she seemed to love it - after about two weeks - I mixed it with her kibble and then some ground beef as an extra every so often. No trouble. About a week ago, literally 10 minutes after she ate (FORCE), she'd vomit it all up. I took a break for a while as I'ran out and was waiting for a new bucked. Tried it again tonight - even tried EMBARK - and whammo - vomited it all up. I cannot for the life of me figure out what's wrong. I tried with beef/without beef... any ideas? I just emailed HK for some help to see what they say. I, too, like the concept behind HK so will keep looking. I want to feed her something I feel GOOD about feeding her, y'know?

BOB - Hi. Can you tell me about Happy Dog? I just did a search and came up with alot of "happy dog stories..." rather than the food! Help?