# Citric acid as preservative and bloat?? Nature's Variert Question



## swissypup (Mar 7, 2008)

I want to switch my three month old puppy to Nature's Variety, which looks great, but they use citric acid as a preservative and according to dogfoodanalysis.com that can be a factor in bloat. She is in a crate while I'm at work and we have a dogwalker coming 2x/day so I don't want to restrict her water too much just to switch. Does anyon have experience withthis food? It seems great otherwise!


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## borzoimom (May 21, 2007)

Citric acid is vitamin C but natures variety just had a recall for quality.. 
Vitamin C is water soluable and leaves the body.


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## Ginny01OT (Dec 3, 2006)

I have been using the NV products since my dog was a puppy(standard poodle)--I now use the grain free formulas (rabbit and duck/turkey meals) in addition to their raw patties. Nature's Variety did not have an official recall---they asked people to return the Chicken Meal grain free formula that was produced between between certain dates because the density was too high.--It was only one specific product between certain dates. The food from this new facility--just the grain free chicken meal, was produced richer--more dense--than their others and therefore the dogs might have symptoms such as nausea, etc. from eating the richer food, it was a voluntary recall and non-life threatening in nature. You can read about it on their website and is very clear.

Citric acid is one factor that can contribute to bloat--for this reason, kibble with citric acid should not be presoaked----there are many other factors that contribute to bloat, including genetics--I am always worried about it myself. For this reason, I feel most comfortable limiting his exercise for about an hour before eating--also limiting his water intake during mealtime (I wait a little before I put down the water but he has free water all day) and I also dont exercise him for about an hour and a half after mealtime--I also feed him 2-3 times a day, not once a day. I keep gas-x on hand and do not raise my food bowls.


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