wysong archetype canine/feline

[miamiferret2]

has anyone recently received a batch of wysong archetype canine/feline with the sticker 10-10-15? it looks really weird compared to what i usually receive from them. i'm on my 6th bag and they all have looked like that so it wasn't just one bag. its alot lighter and there are weird things in it. i even found a whole blade of grass. very weird. i don't feed this one to my ferret though. i feed it to my dog and he's not so crazy about this batch. the ferret one looks the same as it always does.

[mustelidmusk]

I've been buying the ferret archetypal I for about 5 1/2 years now. The batches do differ a bit. the lighter colored food tends to have a higher percentage of chicken. I've never found anything weird in the food...sometimes there will be some thicker/tougher bis of animal product perhaps some thicker tendon or skin/hide-like bits? I've nver found any vegetation.

I have purchased some of the archetype canine/feline bags when you can get a discount on a bag and/or for a change in pace. The dog/cat version does seem to be lighter in color, and it seems drier as well (has a lower fat content). do prefer the ferret version - and so do my brats.

I would email Wysong with your questions. If you feel that this bag is not up to their quality standards, They may ask you to send the remainder of the bag to them so they can check it out and provide you with a replacement bag or two (perhaps a big discount on your next purchase to compensate you for your shipping expense, time, etc.

It's possible that the grass is an unground bit of a vegetable they use - maybe a dried herb stem? If so, they my see this at times and be able to reassure you this is a normal thing that happens here and there in the mfg. process and it represents no issue for your pets.

I remember when I got my firt set of kits - I fed them Marshalls long enough to switch them to better kibble brands - I got half way through the bag and found that the kibble in the bottom of the bag included ground chunks of hard red plastic embedded in some of the pellets

It's always so unnerving for find something unidentifiable in food whether it's your food or your pets' food

-jennifer

[miamiferret2]

ok. thanks - well if you have been buying it for over 5 years i'm sure you've seen way more batches of wysong than i. i'll take your word for it.
my husband doesn't think it was a blade of grass he thinks it was like a shred of muscle meat. it was pretty long though. i am also finding alot of weird pieces of things. some are kind of hard, some shiny (i guess those are skin), i found a few that were kind of squishy. one looked like a piece of brain! lol.
my ferret won't eat the canine/feline formula so i have to buy him the ferret formula.

by the way, do you feed any type of kibble or just raw?

[odin]

is it normal for the shelf life of freeze dried raw food to be 5 years? b/c that might concern me. My first thought was that the date stamp is one of those wierd ones where they put the year or day first instead of the month, those always confuse me. The date stamp will say something like: 23 12 10 and it always take me a minute to realize they're talking about december 23rd.

[sherrylynne]

I wouldn't be overly surprised, since there's basically no moisture in it.

[mustelidmusk]

Actually, it would freak the snot out of me to see a 5- year expiration date. Even if the food did not rot, the oils/fats would go rancid. And the moisture content with freeze dried varies by brand and sometimes even batches (especially the Stella and Chewies.

I feed freeze-dried raw and frozen raw diets. I have helped switch many ferrets to freeze-dried raw and kibble. So, this is an option. Most people who do this find there ferrets develop a strong preference for the freeze-dried raw. Many people have started the switch with the intent of sticking with freeze-dried raw and kibble. But once they begin to see results from the diet change, many progress to full-blown raw.

-jennifer

[miamiferret2]

hmmm not sure about the shelf life being 5 years but i would not feed it it were more than a year old.

[jjmccay]

Wysong changed the formula for Archetypal 1 Ferret and Archetype Canine/Feline. They no longer contain beef. I've been using this food for 5+ years as well, and am deeply frustrated, as one of my ferrets who has been raised on Archetypal 1 would not touch my newest case of food. She always had a habit of picking around the chicken in the previous formula. What's even worse is Wysong did not change the labeling for the Archetypal Ferret, so I had no idea why it looked and smelled so completely different until I called Wysong. Even the techs were not aware the food had changed until after it happened. One tech then recommended the Archetype C/F to me as the most similar substitute, but when I received that I found it too had been changed. Now I have a case and a bag that are going back to Wysong and I am scrambling to find a replacement she will eat. So far I ordered Only Natural Pet beef patties to try today. I managed to get a few bags of the old Archetypal 1 from a seller who still had it in stock to buy me some time. I told Wysong as a general rule ferrets will not change diets that quickly and the one even lost a little weight in the couple of days we did without. It is upsetting and not what I expect in this type of company. If anyone has any way of obtaining the older batches, Archetypal 1 Ferret prior to code 101014, please let me know. 101014 means the batch was made Oct 14, 2010. And as of right now, 12/16/10, the ingredients on the site are still incorrect.

[mustelidmusk]

Now that stinks....I will be writing to a contact I have at Wysong about this. I don't know if you recall that Wysong had plans to discontinue the ferret formula. so many people complained that the retracted that decision after they had anounced their plan. I will be whining at them, and I will post the info on the FML as well.

I have a couple of issues including the following:
*changing the formula.
* changing the formula withtout warning
*changing the formula before the labels change (false advertising
* I liked the high beef content in the A-1 because ferrets get exposed to so much chicken, and they tend to develop issues with chicken. SO this messes up my entire feeding program

This is a perfect reason why I always tell people to feed multiple foods/food sources and rotate what's being fed. All too often animals get hooked on one food - and then it changes.

-jennifer

[jjmccay]

Oh I do hope they change it back. The tech told me some people in the past complained about beef and wanted something with just chicken. I said so they should have made a chicken line and left the other one alone for those that want and depend on it. I have my work cut out for me now. If you have any recommendations for other freeze dried diets I would love to try others, just having a hard time finding alternatives. I'm not so comfortable with raw and worry about balancing it properly. The ferrets are not sure about the Natural Pet beef patties yet, though they will stash them. So far just mixing a tiny sprinkle in their regular soup to get them used to it. Even with just a sprinkle they are not thrilled, they wont eat the soup with vigor. One eats a little and walks away, the other eats a little and then begs me for her favorite straight from the bag. Just breaks my heart.

[mustelidmusk]

I already emailed my wysong contact about this asking of they were making chicken only with plans of making other versions with different meat types. Lamb, duck, etc. I wish they would keep the oririganl archetypal ! and make single meat source versions as well. My brats are not very keen on chicken in any form. I decided it must be too bland for them after Tomichi ripped into my bacon wrapped jalapeno while I was holding her. She ate a big bite of the jalapeno and wanted more

-jennifer

[miamiferret2]

wow. this was the only company that i actually had some faith in. i think they changed the canine/feline diet (which i feed to my dog) too --because like i said, the most recent batches that i received contain mostly light colored meat chunks so i assume that it is all chicken. not good. i am currently mixing wysong ferret archetype I with stella and chewy's lamb, duck duck goose and beef. jennifer please keep us updated. i will email them also.

[miamiferret2]

ok wysong definitely changed the canine/feline archetype ingredients. no more beef! confirmed today. here are the new ingredients. this is why the most recent bags that i have received have been so weird looking and my dog was not too happy about it!! oh i really really hope that they haven't changed the ferret formula. that is terrible. i just emailed them. the ferret archetype I ingredients have not been changed on the website.
Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Hearts, Chicken Livers, Ground Chicken Bone, Grass Powders, Apple, Blueberry, Cranberry, Plums, Flax Seed, Fish Oil, Lecithin, Seaweed, Grape Skin and Seed Extract (source of resveratrol), Mixed Vitamin E Tocopherols, Citric Acid (antioxidant), Oregano, Rosemary, and Sage Extracts (herbal antioxidants and preservatives), Inulin (source of prebiotics), Probiotics (Dried Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactococcus lactis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus lactis Fermentation Product), Dried Yeast Culture (source of vitamins, enzymes, prebiotics), Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Product (source of enzymes), Dried Aspergillus niger Fermentation Product (source of enzymes), Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement.
www.wysong.net/ACRHETYPE

[miamiferret2]

i listed the new ingredients for canine/feline archetype.

[jjmccay]

Both have been changed but the Ferret A1 packaging still has the old ingredient listing. If you're now familiar with the look and smell of the new Canine/Feline, it's almost identical to that of the new A1.

This labeling issue makes it even more difficult to obtain the product I'm looking for as resellers believe what they have is correct until I get down to the batch detail. I don't know what Wysong is thinking, there are pet food labeling laws.

You use stella and chewy's for the ferrets? I'll look into that too.

Thanks