Does anyone feed CSJ to their dogs?

FAJ · Enlightened One

Does anyone feed CSJ to their dogs?

greyflintstone · Master

Hi Fiona!

We'd never heard of CSJ until we read your posting! No idea what it's like, but are seriously tempted to order the Lamb & Rice for Wilma! Certainly the reviews of the food are very good!

Will let you know if we get some and what it's like.

Suzanne · Guru

what is CSJ?

Chas · Old Hand

CSJ is a company based in Wales which sells a range of dog food, many of which are wheat and gluten free. Their web address is www.csjk9.com.

We are considering buying a bag of their Lamb & Rice dry food as it is wheat and gluten free and does not have "meat and animal derivatives" which is listed on the ingredients of many other "lamb" based dog foods. Wilma has a very sensitive tummy and is currently on the James Wellbeloved Lamb & Rice kibble. We have compared the ingredients and protein, etc analysis and are very similar - only major difference being the price!! Just waiting for rough feeding guidlines from CSJ to see how long a bag will last!

Will let you know if we order any and what we think!

Chas

FAJ · Enlightened One

Thanks, folks - will await any news with much interest.

Fiona

CAROLE ROBINSON · Old Hand

I emailed this company asking for information about Autarky a few weeks ago. At that time I explained that my dogs were fed on Arden Grange. In reply, they suggested that if I was looking for an equivalent product, I should try the CSJ Command Performance which I think is around £32 per 15kg. bag. Because of this comment, I came to the conclusion that their other products and Autarky are not such good quality and in essence, you pay for what you get.

Chas · Old Hand

We ordered some food from CSJ last week and it arrived yesterday. We emailed them just to confirm that the Lamb and Rice did not contain any white meat products of any kind. They assured us that this was the case.

The biscuits are slightly bigger than the James Wellbeloved ones, but on comparing the ingredients etc, there isn't that much difference.......

CSJ Lamb & Rice:

Now, wheat gluten free, this diet contains a minimum of 28%, highly digestible, real lamb and is the ideal choice for active dogs or dogs with extra sensitive stomachs. It has become a firm favourite with rough collies - with some 'winning' results.

INGREDIENTS: Cereals, Real Lamb Meat Meal, Oils, Beet Pulp, Minerals, Vitamins, Yucca Plant Extract, & EEC permitted anti-oxidants (BHA & BHT).

Typical Analysis: Protein 22%, Oil 10%, Fibre 2.5%, Ash 8%

James Wellbeloved.......................

INGREDIENTS: Rice, lamb meat meal, ground whole barley, lamb fat, whole linseed, lamb gravy, sugar beet pulp, alfalfa, natural seaweed, sodium chloride, calcium carbonate, D,L-methionine, lysine hydrochloride, threonine, zinc methionate.

CONTAINS: Min 26% lamb, min 26% rice, min 14% barley.

TYPICAL ANALYSIS: Protein 20%, Oil 10%, Fibre 4%, Ash 8.5%.

Wilma has a really sensitive stomach so we have to be really careful what she eats. The CSJ cost £17 for a 15kg bag (plus £5 postage, and can get 2 bags delivered for this! and delivery within 5 working days). Looking at the feeding guidlines for the CSJ Wilma will actually get less food each day when compared to the JW so, in theory we will get more out of one bag of the CSJ - so is even better value for money!!

She starts on a mixture of the new CSJ and JW tonight with Tuesday/Wednesday only on the CSJ. We will let you know how she gets on!!

Chas

Chas · Old Hand

Well, Wilma has been on the CSJ for over a week and there have not been any adverse effects that we've noticed. She is not producing any more waste than normal and it is still pretty solid (as if you all needed / wanted to know that!!).

We are very seriously considering changing Barney to this as well (once he's over his current bout of the runs!). We are also looking at putting "Mr Iron Constiution" Freddy on the same food - he's starting to produce a lot more in the waste department, as he tends to once he's been on the same food for a while!!

The service from CSJ was excellent. There was a problem with their ordering system and they emailed us to let us know our order would be a couple of days late. It was delivered within the 5 working days.

Wilma gets less food than she used to on the JW, but seems to take her much longer to eat it!! But still looks around to see what the other 2 are getting, just in case they've got anything better!! (she does this with everything!!)

Anyway off to get some sardines for Barney's tea - Freddy will be soooooo jealous (might give him one as well!!) Will let you know how the other 2 get on with the CSJ.......!

Chas

FAJ · Enlightened One

Thanks, Chas. Seems like it's suiting Wilma - she must be thriving on it to be the bonniest GAL girly! How funny that it's white meat that doesn't suit her, as chicken is the fall-back food of the dodgy tummy. Did it take you a while to realise what her dietary needs were when you got her?

Fiona

greyflintstone · Master

Fiona,

It did actually take us quite a while to realise what was causing her problems. We were feeding her, initially, the same food that she had been on in the foster home and so thought the problems with toileting in the house were initially down to the stress of moving. We then had to move their feeding times and the amount she was given per meal - they were fed at 8am and 5.30pm and got 50/50, now its 8am and 8pm and Wilma only gets 1/3 in the morning and 2/3 at night. This seemed to work - for about 2 days and then started again. By this time we took her to the vet and he diagnosed a really bad stomach infection and she had plenty of antibiotics injected into her. He recommended moving her to James Wellbeloved food and we decided to try the lamb & rice and see how she got on. We never looked back - the runs stopped almost immediately. We slipped up a couple of times though - one night I was peeling the greasy skin off a roast chicken, I gave both dogs a piece each - by the next morning, she was ill again!

We tend to avoid all white meats now if possible - including ham and bacon! She doesn't get any leftovers if we have had chicken as we can't run the risk that even the juices from the meat might bother her! We did try her on a veggie dog food (Wafcol's I think) and she was really bad on that too - so she may have a slight wheat intolerance as well! We've looked at other lamb flavoured dog foods, but the ingredients always list "meat and meat derivatives" - we can't be sure it's not white meat thats mashed up in there. JW and CSJ have both assured us that there is definitely NO white meat in their lamb food -

Sharon

FAJ · Enlightened One

Hi, Sharon - poor Wilma and her tummy. Pearly once had a nasty tummy bug that involved injections from the vet and it was pretty scary stuff. Luckily, it was a one-off, but I can imagine how awful it must have been for you and Wilma trying to suss out what to do for her. Thank goodness for manufacturers that list ingredients nice and specifically!

Fiona