Innova Dog Food

[CK9]

Do you guys have that brand of dog food in Australia?

This is one of the best kibbles on the market(United States and Canada) and I was wondering if you guys have it down there. (I know that it depend of the dogs but here lots of people use it including me)

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab

[curlyking]

Hi CK9 we do have Innova and I agree it is a super food BUT horrendously expensive - my experience is that it works out to about $10Au a kg which is about

$13.80 US for a kg which is 2.2 pounds.

The other thing is that it appears only to be available through Pet's Paradise outlets. PP is a chain of petshops which among other things sell animals - pups, kittens, rabbits etc.

It would be my food of choice when feeding kibble IF it were more available and better priced.

Edited December 15, 2005 by curlyking

[CK9]

It is really expensive is Australia Outch!!!!

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I use Innova's EVO (raw food in kibble form) and I *love* this product. I usually only give it to Molly b/c she takes so long to eat RMBs but it does the other two dogs as well if I can't do a raw meal from scratch.

I don't think it's that expensive. I paid $20 Australian for a 1.5 kg bag, and given that Molly's the dog that eats it, this bag will last a while.

I'm trying to source it elsewhere b/c I dislike PP but no luck so far.

[AgilityGirl]

I really want to feed my german shepherd Innova, I've heard alot that I like about it.

But its not available here in Tassie

So I feed her Royal Canin german shepherd formula mixed with raw meat instead.

Sonia.

[ElectraWoman]

It is such a shame that Innova seems to be only available in PP shops...it's a great kibble, IMO

[panda]

I mix Innova with Eaglepack Holistic.

Edited December 16, 2005 by panda

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I feed a totally raw diet, which is why I like EVO for Molly, but she only gets it for breakfast - she gets a RMB-based dinner, the same as the other two dogs!

[Innana]

I feed Innova Evo to my Maltese.We're both very happy with it.

It's a shame Innova is only available in Australia at a national pet-selling chain store.Here in the US it's the opposite-Innova is mostly sold at more ethical,mostly privately owned pet supply stores.The big chains don't stock it.Maybe write to the company and explain your dilemma with purchasing their product from a place like Paradise Pets? Or maybe a smaller store that doesn't sell live animals would be willing to order it for you or stock it if they know there is costumer interest in buying it?

[Featherinup]

I've been using this product for only a week and a half and it is putting weight onto my dog which is a good thing.

Some background info:

About 3 months ago, Topsy, our cavalier cross westie was diagnosed with Mega Oesophagus. This has resulted in repeated bouts of pneumonia and she's lost 2 kilos in that time. I was on the search for a high protein high fat content food for her so she could gain some weight back but the food also had to 'stay down'. So far so good. I haven't yet weighed her but she no longer looks like a skeleton. Topsy seems to be enjoying this food, gaining weight and energy.

It is pricey but ohhhh so worth it for Topsy especially with this disease. My only dilemma really is that I so hate buying stuff from Pets Paradise.

Here are a couple of link about Mega Oesophagus:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_megaesophagus.html

http://www.megae.homestead.com/

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

At least when I have to go to PP, I always "talk" to the customers considering buying a pup from the shop. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. I haven't been kicked out...yet.

I do believe that sometimes, saying something helps. But sadly, in the majority of cases, these pup sales are due to impulse buying (exactly what the store is aiming for), and when someone walks by the window and "falls in love", it's very difficult to change their mind. ;)

EVO is the only product I buy at PP, and their prices for EVERYTHING are way higher than everywhere else. I'm still hoping that an ethical pet shop, that is, one that doesn't sell live animals, will consider carrying EVO b/c it's a GREAT product. Anyone?

[Sagittarian]

Here's the link to the makers of EVO -

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=contact-us

I've just emailed them to see if there is any possibility of us carrying the brand. I'm not too hopeful though as my understanding is that Bates have an exclusive distributorship. Maybe if there was enough support for an independent like us to carry it, they might be interested? Depends upon what agreements are in place, but is worth asking.

Will let you know any outcome.

:p

Sags

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

I've just e-mailed them too! And pointed out that other quality foods are available in ethical pet shops here and that I *might* be tempted to change, which is true. Anything to avoid giving profits to PP. :p

The local Petbarn has Dick Van Patten's food and it's quite good. So that is a distinct possibility for Molly's breakfast...

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

For some reason, the "helpful" ppl at Innova forwarded my e-mail to PP...so I got a response from PP. I've replied.

Guess I'll be trialling Natural Balance, bought from Petbarn, eh? Or I could go for a lesser quality product such as Nutrience. Whatever, I won't be buying EVO again unless they find a new distributor.

Nice one, Natura.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

Sad to report, but according to PP, they have "exclusive distribution rights" to the Innova product range in Australia.

I'm switching to another product, one that is available in ethical pet shops. Shame on Natura, shame. ;)

IF this company decides to allow an ethical retailer to distribute its products, I'll reconsider. In the meantime, they've just lost a customer. I hope Natura is reading this thread. It needs to know how we in Australia feel about the PP chain.

[dogcop]

there are a lot of good products out there in the market place that cant be bought where we would like to. When I had a pet shop I tried to get some of these products in my store to no avail and its simply called Supply Blocking. PP are experts at this as well as their headline franchise's. I use a good shampoo at the moment it is only available from safeway. After contacting the company to get stock direct not interested now stocks are not being maintained in safeway so pretty soon manufacturer will start to suffer and see the light. Maybe all too late !

I had possible orders for 15 hydrobaths that were being made in Hallam Vic at the time all I wanted was info and prices. But was told I had to go through Rova or he would spit the dummy. Pretty soon manufacturer rings to say he can supply but all way too late.

This will sound familar to those in the industry !

[petmezz]

way to familar but unfortunatly at the moment that is what happens

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

If PP thinks that they can monopolise the market then they might have underestimated the numbers of ppl who are against the sale of animals in pet shops. After all, if we have dogs/cats/other pets, we have to buy our supplies *somewhere*. And if we object to buying from shops that sell live animals, then guess what? There ARE shops that sell pet supplies but not pets. And we'll simply spend our money there!

I've just been given a sample (FREE!) of Natural Balance and gave Molly some for breakfast, mixed with the EVO. So far, so good. If she tolerates it over the next few days, then I'll buy that product instead of the EVO.

The other bonus - the Natural Balance is a little less expensive! And the Pet Barn staff are wonderful, caring, awesome ppl! So it's a real pleasure to shop there.

As I said in a previous post, I hope someone from Natura is following this thread. And I hope that the Bates' are too! :D

[Malamum]

I used to feed Innova, but my two problems with it were the cost (I have two large dogs so would go through a fair bit) and bying it from Pet's Paradise.

I also tried emailing the manufacturers letting them know that I had a major issue with purchasing anything from Pet's Paradise but they didn't care.

I now feed a totally raw diet.

[Dog_Horse_Girl]

MM I also feed a raw diet, except that Molly must have breakfast and she's a very slow eater. I don't have unlimited time in the mornings...hence the need for a kibble for her. She has no trouble eating kibble relatively quickly but I would prefer a raw kibble, hence the EVO. But I refuse to support PP and I find Natura's attitude arrogant, to say the least.

Natural Balance is a product that does contain grains, but I like the company's ethos...no animal testing in laboratories, they use only organic produce, etc. So it's a compromise but for me, a happy compromise.

Natura, you're losing Australian customers. I guess you don't care though.