[Huskypup]

For the past few months I’ve been feeding my new dog (just under 1yr old) Freshpet Select Turkey Rolls. Pup loved it, I loved getting her a higher rated food.

That’s no longer the case. Starting a couple months ago I started getting rolls that smelled funky. I half wonder if maybe I’m just mentally conditioned to think I smell it now, but then I think back to the first one I got. How instantly I picked up from the smell that something wasn’t right with it. With a faint, barely detectable smell of … vomit. Within a couple days it was so fowl I almost puked. At first I tried taking it back and exchanging it for new rolls. That worked fine the first time, but now it’s a ratio of 4 out of every 5 rolls is funky. They’ll think I’m a crazy paranoid if I keep taking it back. Who knows, maybe I am.

I’ve considered switching to raw (it’d almost be cheaper) but between the book pedaling and lack of general knowledge it’s hard to find information from a source that seems reliable. The book pedaling makes it nigh-impossible to look up their credentials beyond what is ‘claimed.’ I really wanted to contact a nutritionist and just consult directly but realized they are very hard to find! Does anyone have advice on getting in contact with experts about proper balancing? Raw feed is scary, knowing how badly it can affect your pets if done wrong.

I also don’t know any good fresh-food alternatives to Freshpet. Here it is the only refrigerated food sold, and I don’t see many canned foods that aren’t chock full of nutritionally useless gravy.

I’m looking at other stores while I try to sort out my food problem. Maybe it is just this store. Is the fact that their fridge is packed very full a possible culprit of why I have such bad consistency in the food quality? Before it happened in December I never had any problems with their rolls. They were more scarcely packed then. Now they’re stacked up to the next shelf.

I guess I’m just looking for any advice on how to proceed. Alternatives to kibble-based or mostly-gravy foods. I’m trying to research but my head is spinning and I haven’t made any progress in hours.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by Huskypup.

[Pitlove]

Hi Huskypup- One thing I can tell you with FreshPet is, if the store you’re purchasing it from is not keeping up with the expiration dates this could be why you’re getting funky smelling rolls. This food does not have a long shelf life and where I work (small family owned pet shop) we check weekly to make sure none of the FreshPet is expired and keep notes on what is expiring soon. Have yet to have any issues of customers saying it smelled funny.

I would try purchasing it from another store. Sometimes smaller pet shops are able to keep better track of expirations than the big box chain stores.

[C4D]

Hi Huskypup,

Pitlove is right. If it smells funky, especially like vomit, either your refrigerator or the store refrigerator is not keeping it cold enough. I don’t feed this brand often, I use the grain free versions, but when I do, the smell almost reminds me of lunch meat, but never foul smelling. I use to buy the bag versions of this for an old dog that was getting picky and had good luck overall. One time, however, it went bad in a matter of being open for only one day. I remember a very sour smell when I opened it. Anyway, I would try buying it from another store to see if that helps with the problem.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Huskypup:
I agree with Pitlove and C4D, finding another store might be a good idea.

Out of all the ACVN/PhD nutritionist sites I visit I only remember one that will formulate a raw diet, Dr. Susan Lauten of Pet Nutrition Consulting; there are probably others. However, I don’t find that service listed on her site any longer. Under partial list of services offered they do list they will analyze your current raw diet. Maybe try contacting them to see if they will formulate a raw diet.
http://petnutritionconsulting.com/

It looks like Dr. Lauten has been consulting for Fresh Choice Complete raw food company over the last year. Looks like a fairly new company:
http://www.freshchoicecomplete.com/index.html

You can find nutritionists at most Vet schools and here is the ACVN diplomat directory. For some reason the link won’t post so I am editing the address:
http://www dot acvn dot org/directory/

Just Food For Dogs makes fresh meals delivered to your house and they also have kits for making fresh food:
http://justfoodfordogs.com/

Check out Weruva Human Style (not Kobe/Kurobuta) and Tiki Dog canned foods. They both have pictures on their sites of their recipes. They look just like shredded chicken or fish you would eat.
http://www.tikipets.com/tiki-dog/
http://www.weruva.com/dog-cuisine-human-style.php

[stella5]

Hey Huskypup – I actually work @ Freshpet so I thought I’d reach out. The smell you mention isn’t typical. I recommend that you give the pet parent advisors at Freshpet a call. You can reach them at 866.789.3737. They’ll want to look into the recipes you purchased as well the location where you buy them. This will help them figure out what you’re experiencing and they’ll help to give you some answers!

[Huskypup]

Thank you all!

I would have thought it was my refrigerator, too, but I sometimes open as soon as I get home. I considered maybe it is the store fridge being overpacked (up to the next shelf with large rolls.) The company said this shouldn’t be an issue.

Now I wonder if maybe that individual store fridge is going out? I’m going to town tomorrow to buy from another store. I’ll update then on if it turns out the same. Wish me luck!

@stella5, I’m in contact with Freshpet. They’ve been very prompt at answering messages and forwarded my problem to quality control. Thank you, though!

Also, thank you for the resources! I’ll do a lot more reading on the nutritionist information tonight. It helps a lot to have alternatives!

[Deborah C]

I have been having that same foul smell from freshpet also. My husband mentioned maybe trying a different store but it really grosses me out and I’m thinking of a whole new food alternative

[Matthew D]

I have been dealing with 50% of the FreshPet rolls smelling awful for over a year now. I thought it was just my local stores but it now seems to be FreshPet or spoiling during delivery. I have learned that if a roll smells every other roll (at all of my 3 local stores) with the same expiration date will also smell no matter if the date is three months away. It has been very frustrating and very expensive because my dog will only eat that specific FreshPet when it’s actually fresh. I throw away a majority of the rolls I buy.

[Melissa T]

Thats why I’m here googled why my fresh pet smells rotten. It’s not expired it dont expire till October but I buy the large rolls and cut it up and put in a bowl and leave in fridge and even if i don’t cut it up. It smells so rotten after 2 weeks I think I’m going to have to do something else I really wish they would fix this problem

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