Mohr <[log in to unmask]> Tasha wrote: " I'm very disappointed in a
company I had tentatively come to trust."
 
I am not sure if you were saying you had come to trust Iams or P&G.  If you
were speaking of Iam's you should know that Iam's as we knew it, no longer
exists...at all.  When P&G bought the line of food, just as with most "buy
outs", the ethics and standards of the buyer enveloped the newly purchased
company.  The quality, integrity, and all the former advertising and
product information published by Iam's is not applicable to the "Iam's
product" on the shelves today.  The only thing that we can be assured is
the same are the four letters that make up the name on the bags.  P&G is
obviously attempting to profit from Iam's excellent reputation, banking
on the "lack of awareness" of consumers that the manufacturer has changed.
This is a typical "strategic maneuver" in the corporate world.
 
What you are seeing on grocery store shelves, and even in petstores
labeled "Iam's"...is NOT the Iam's we had come to know and love before
P&G's buy out.
 
As many ferret owners have already discovered, the "enhancements" as they
are calling them, are adversely affecting ferrets.  I strongly suspect that
dog and cat owners will soon discover the same with their pets.
 
Grocery store shelves are full of garbage pet foods labeled as "newer",
"better", tastier", "nutritionally complete" or whatever buzz-words are
pulling in the most bucks these days, and the fact that P&G has placed
their products on the same shelves, speaks for itself.
 
"Enhanced" or even those claims that a food is "nutritionally complete"
does NOT mean that the animals will receive a nutritionally
complete/balanced diet from the food.  Remember, a lot depends upon how the
animal's body processes, uses and absorbs the nutrients.  In a lab, tests
may show that corn is made up of the certain proteins that animals need,
but if the animal cannot extract and use these proteins..what good are
they?  There are countless ferret foods on the market loaded with corn,
but ferrets can't process corn to extract the proteins from it.  But
manufacturers don't have to mention that, and I suspect many don't even
know it because they've not done any extensive research on ferrets.
 
As a rule, it is wise to beware of any company that makes multiple petfoods
(for different types of animals).  Having spent years "associated with" the
pet industry, I know that once a company has a foothold in a market, it's
easy to just add more lines of products and then expect consumers to assume
all of their products are thoroughly researched and tested when rarely is
that the case.  The truth is they have simply found a way to expand their
market (and make more money) since they already buy the same ingredients
for their other foods, they have the machinery already to produce the food,
and they have the ability to package it similarly to their other products,
and they have buyers in place ready to accept their products, so they
figure why not.
 
Why do you think that suddenly you are seeing Iam's in grocery stores...
because P&G already has a big foothold in the "grocery store market" with
tons of other products they sell there already.
 
One other point to ponder is why Iam's and other premium petfood
manufacturers have not marketed their products through grocery stores in
the past.  The reason is simple, premium foods are bought by knowledgeable
pet owners who understand something about nutrition and have some level of
knowledge about reading ingredient labels.  It costs more to produce the
better foods but this group of consumers is willing to spend the money to
provide the best for their animals.  As a rule, and I don't mean to insult
anyone reading this, most people who buy petfoods off grocery store shelves
select these foods for one of three reasons 1) low price 2) convenience
3) lack of understanding of the importance of nutrition and lack of
understanding that there is a vast difference between "cheap foods" and
"higher priced foods found only in petstores".  What this means is, quality
foods don't stand much of a chance in grocery stores because people are not
shopping for quality in their petfood (even if some believe they are buying
quality when they read the buzz words on the bag).  Grocery stores do not
staff knowledgeable employees to educate consumers on petfoods as some
petstores do, so the consumer has no way to know why one food is better
than another unless they educate themselves.  So the more expensive and
better quality foods rarely move off grocery store shelves.
 
Over time I am sure we will not only see a steady decline in the
ingredients used in Iam's foods, but also a decline in the price until
soon it will be comparable to every other cheap food sold in the grocery
store.
 
Trish
Director, Ferrets First Rescue & Shelter
[Posted in FML issue 3005]