Welcome to our growing Wysong Q & A section!
Please use the menu below and to the left to navigate our database. Explore customer questions about our organization, products, nutritional philosophy, health results, and more.
Have a question? Please contact us.
Please use the menu below and to the left to navigate our database. Explore customer questions about our organization, products, nutritional philosophy, health results, and more.
Have a question? Please contact us.
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Diet ChangesQuestion:Hello. I've been a long-time Wysong customer, and have purchased thousands of dollars of your dry dog foods for my two dogs. I have some concerns about the new formulations of your Synorgon and Anergen formulas. I've read the information you have on your website about the benefits of the new processing technology and individual ingredients, however, this information doesn't help understand the benefits of new ingredients versus those in the older formulas. For instance, one of the reasons I purchased Anergen in the past is because it had ingredients that are considered low glycemic to help with a former yeast skin problem with one of my dogs. Your new formulation, however, now contains sweet potato, considered to be an ingredient to avoid in preventing skin yeast problems. As you know, many of your consumers have found your products through extensive education and research on the best nutrition for their pets. To suddenly change your formulas without more information, is a disservice to your longtime, educated customers. It would be helpful to see a line by line comparison/contrast of the top 7 or so ingredients of the old versus new formulas, to help understand these changes in formulation. It would also be helpful to know why the bag size was reduced from eight to five pounds. Thank you for more information on these changes. Answer:
Thank you for your recent e-mail. Please review the following FAQs. If you peruse these and still have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us again. WHY HAVE THE FORMULAS BEEN CHANGED? First, please know that all of our recent formulation updates were implemented in the interest of improving the nutrition of the diets. This has always been our foremost goal. Most Wysong Diets have been in existence for decades, and fed to tens of thousands of companion animals over multiple generations with remarkable results. We would not have altered them unless it was for the better. All of the ingredients in Wysong Diets fulfill nutritive and functional purposes, and there are no fillers, artificial additives, or the like. We encourage you to visit the following web pages to learn the rationale behind the new formulations and for each of our ingredients (http://www.wysong.net/dietfeatures.php, http://m.wysong.net). ARE THE DIETS NOW MADE MORE CHEAPLY? Quite to the contrary, the ingredient upgrades are MORE expensive as is the advanced processing used in production. The nutraceuticals and micronutrients are particularly costly, and note that the protein levels have been boosted in most diets, which always reflects increased costs. However, on a value/lb. basis, the foods are actually more inexpensive than the previous formulations. DON'T FISH MEALS CAUSE ALLERGIES? The fish meal was added to formulations to contribute protein, as well as healthful omega-3 fatty acids. We have no scientific or anecdotal evidence that fish, in particular, cause allergies in pets. In fact, the fatty acid content of fish is anti-inflammatory and will actually improve any skin or coat issues related to allergies. See: http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/the-food-allergies-are-cured-myth.php. WHY DO YOUR DIETS NOW INCLUDE MEAT MEALS? Our research has shown that the number one problem with commercial pet foods is excess starch. This problem is not solved by the spate of "grain-free" foods flooding the market since they all still contain starches, commonly in amounts equal to, or greater than grain-containing diets (A carnivore eating potatoes or sweet potatoes is no better off than a carnivore eating wheat or corn.).Although we have solved this problem with the new Epigen™ line, our other diets needed to have the starches reduced. The best thing to replace starch with is protein, and the best protein is meat and organ protein. Although we would like to supply meat only in its fresh form, the limitations of extrusion processing do not permit the inclusion of more fresh meat than we are already using. The only alternative is meat meal due to its dry form. Thus we have a choice between starch and meat meal. In our judgment, meat meal is clearly the better choice from a health perspective and permits a more concentrated and dense quantity of meat and protein. Wysong meat meal is superior quality and high in very digestible protein, fatty acids, chelated minerals, and bone and joint nourishing proteoglycans. It is preserved with natural vitamin E epimers and herbal extracts. WHY ARE THERE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES? The vegetable and fruit elements in our products are very minor and are used to help preserve the product, provide nutraceutical benefits, and present nutrients to animals they would naturally get by eating the viscera of their herbivorous prey in the wild. See this link for further information: http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/fruits-and-vegetables.php. ISN'T MONTMORILLONITE CLAY JUST A FILLER? This ingredient has been in Wysong formulations for over 30 years resulting in great benefits. It was previously called kelp, composted sea vegetation, or Chelamin™, but regulatory changes require the new nomenclature. This composted ancient sea bed ingredient contains over 72 trace minerals commonly deficient in modern human and animal processed diets and serves to help adsorb and neutralize mycotoxins should they arise in a food. See: http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/montmorillonite.php. WHY DO YOU ONLY HAVE ONE SIZE PACKAGE AND WHY SO SMALL? We've always kept our packaging on the small side in the interest of nutrient preservation. With larger packaging the food is often exposed to the elements over weeks and months, which is very destructive to the food. So many of the micronutrients included in our products are fragile, and must be treated accordingly. We want our painstaking manufacturing efforts to result in superior nutrition reaching the companion animal, not degrading in a "convenient" large open bag. For more information, please see http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/why-are-nutri-pak-sizes-small.php. One size permits the use of our new packaging technology that affixes a computer generated label to the bag. The resulting flexibility permits formulation changes as new advancements in the rapidly unfolding field of nutrigenomics occur. Additionally, having only one size permits more efficient turnover of products and reduces manufacturing waste. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns. Question: Thank you for your reply, however, I have previously seen all of the online information you have referred me to. I'm sure many of your customers, like myself, are interested in knowing how the improved formulas are considered more desirable than the old. In other words, I would like to see an ingredient comparison/contrast, like why oat groats in the old Anergen formula were replaced with sweet potato in the new formula. A blanket "this is a better formula because we say it is" isn't sufficient. Your consumers are educated in large part because Wysong has helped to educate consumers. It seems now, however, that Wysong is shrinking from providing details of why the new formulas are considered improved over the longtime, decades proven formulas of the past. Again I look forward to more information on the differences between the old and new Anergen and Synorgon formulas. Thank you for your time. Answer:
Our commitment to educating consumers remains as strong as ever. It was the impetus behind our mobile sites (http://m.wysong.net/?diet=an) where we offer an explanation and justification for every component of every diet. Nothing like this was in place with our old diets. In addition, there are more details on the product package itself with guaranteed quantities of Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, and enzymes. Sweet potatoes are one of many possible (starch) alternatives to oat groats. Please keep in mind that the goal with Anergen™ is to include ingredients that are hypoallergenic in nature. Anergen™ has long been a resource for companion animals suffering from one, or a host of common pet allergies. Sweet potatoes are relatively uncommon in pet foods, and less common than oats. Companion animals are unlikely to have been subjected to a steady diet of sweet potatoes, and thus the unlikelihood of an allergic reaction. This, combined with its nutritional benefits (as outlined in the link above) make it suitable for inclusion in Anergen™. If you have any other specific questions please let me know. Nearly all of the Original Wysong diets have increased levels of protein and fat. All have received a micronutrient boost – more prebiotics, probiotics and enzymes, as well as a superior array of fruits and vegetables. As previously sent, the following features are improvements over the previous diets. Some are new, some are improvements by degree:
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