# NV and bone!



## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Okay I have been feeding Belle NV for over a year and I thought I was paranoid noticing bigger pieces of bone in it. I heard the same thing from another NV person. Recently Dora has been not wanting to eat it and Belle and her both have been leaving chunks of bone in their dishes. They seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. Well this morning I gave Belle chicken medallions and look what she left!!! I wrote NV an email this morning as this does concern me. They tend to inhale the ground and not really chew it up and this size is about the size of Belle's throat. Just wanted to bring this to anyone who feeds NV's attention.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

I've noticed some big ones too Amanda. Arghh!
Carole


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

*Response- they are quick!*

Dear Amanda,

Thank you for emailing!

Our Raw diet is a bone-in product, as stated on the packaging. The amount of bone will vary depending on the type of protein. Each raw diet flavor is unique and will have a unique bone percentage. Moreover, it is a natural product made from various species of animals, thus the bone content will vary. However, the typical percent of bone is between 5-15% depending on the meat species (i.e. cattle are a heavier boned animal than a rabbit and would have a higher bone percentage per carcass naturally. We try to mimic this natural carcass composition). The bone is ground through a 1/4 inch grinding screen, twice when processed into the diet. Are the pieces you are seeing larger than 1/2 an inch?

Our raw diets contain not more than 30% organ meat (liver, heart, kidney), not more than 15% bones, and not less than 50% meat.

Sincerely,

Customer Service

Nature's Variety

www.naturesvariety.com


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Amanda, I would have concerns about a bone piece that large. Did you e-mail the pic to them?


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Yes, I replied to him and also sent this pic. I thought the coin would show it's size but it is about 1/2 inch so I wonder how it went through the 1/4th inch twice? I have honestly been seeing more and more bone of larger sizes. I just thought maybe Belle was starting to get more picky but Dora started doing it and leaving them in their bowl. My dogs eat raw bones so bone isn't normally a big deal to me but when they eat them they chew them, they normally inhale the ground in the morning.


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Thats some pretty 'suspect' Quality Assurance they got going on... Obviously they are not sifting it through 1/4inch, twice... Tell them you want free product for the Havanese Forum!! 

Ryan


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Yeah, that is pertty suspect how it went through 1/4 inch processing twice! They need to check their grinder blades post haste! It really makes me wonder...have you seen Missy's thread about "screeched when pooped"? Doesn't Missy feed NV? Maybe Jasper is trying to pass too large a piece of bone.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

I do feed NV. I have not noticed larger bones... in fact most of what I find that I think is bone is usually softer like cartilage when I inspect it. But I do not think it has to do with his food. But that is a scary chunk Amanda. please let us know what they say when you tell them that it was in fact bigger than 1/4". 

I just hate to hear anything bad about NV...we have had such food issues and something is finally working well for both. But it is good to have the warning so I can watch out for it. 

But just out of curiosity, why would that piece of bone worry you more than feeding a chicken neck? I am just curious as I have not looked into the raw bone method of feeding.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Well with my dogs they sit and eat the raw whole bones more. With the medallions they gulp it down. So they aren't likely to chew that piece up more. While that may be okay for some size dogs. I do really worry about Belle with that size of a raw chunk. She didn't eat it and Dora has done the same but I worry... what if she did. Could it cause damage?

Well here was my response to the second pic I sent to them:

Thanks Amanda. The picture helps. We will pass this along to our Quality team, but 1/2 inch or less does fall within our specifications.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
Nature's Variety
www.naturesvariety.com


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Hmmm, thanks for the heads up, Amanda. I'll start watching more closely. Tucker literally inhales his medallions...I've even started leaving them partially frozen and cut into smaller chunks to try to slow him down. I'm sure he doesn't chew it!


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

ahhh, ok now I get it. yes the boys gulp their medallions. they should send you free product. (if you want it!) I just wrote Canz and told them that I had two bags of treats that smelled really foul, kind of fishy, and asked if they had any recalls? I told them that I used the first bag since the boys didn't seem to mind it but that I wasn't gonna use this bag (there was a normal smelling bag inbetween) cause I couldn't stand the smell. They told me sometimes if the batch was run right after they run a batch of fish treats the chicken/venison could smell like that but that there were no recalls... they are however sending me 2 new bags and didn't ask for any proof of purchase. that is good custumer service.


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