Durham Animal Feeds South

If I could give any less than 1 star, I would. We’re now 2 weeks into a very long, very uncomfortable, exceptionally worrying and expensive ordeal for my poor pup. Having been fed DAF and only DAF since being weaned to the age of just over 3, I’d noticed the quality slipping. Shot found in venison, the duck so mushy and watery that even the supplier I buy it from has returned boxes to DAF following numerous customer complaints and removing substantial bone while prepping her food. 2 weeks ago today on a morning walk, she was struggling going to the toilet. She’s a very stoic girl and for the third time in her whole life, I actually heard her yelp - this time while passing a hard, chalky single bit of stool. On return home she paced the garden endlessly for 40 minutes, straining and looking very uncomfortable, she then vomited, yellow vomit with notable hard bits of something in it. She is never out of my sight and does not get into anything she shouldn’t. I took her for an emergency vet appointment. The initial diagnosis was constipation and she was sent home with anti nausea and pain meds. 48 hours later and she was showing no improvement. She hadn’t passed a stool in the previous 24 hours and was visibly unsettled. I returned to the vet for another emergency appointment and asked for a scan to be performed as I just knew something wasn’t right. I received a call a few hours later telling me that her entire colon (the whole length of it) was blocked with bone! Multiple enemas, 5 days being kept in the vets, repeated scans/x-rays to check for progress, liquid laxatives, various pain meds and having to be taken out every hour along with a feeding line in place due to her refusing food, she was discharged home to continue her recovery here, allowing her to have more rest and her familiar surroundings to try and encourage her appetite. She is still passing shards of bone, I am home cooking for her and using appetite stimulants when she’s reluctant to eat at all for me. Sleep is non existent and has been for over a week due to her needing to go out so often and then making sure she’s cleaned up and bone fragments removed from her rear end as she continues to pass them. Thankfully she’s insured as the vet bill is in the region of £3500, but this is more than money, this is a dog who is usually full of beans, has a healthy appetite and predictable bowel movements. She’s lost 4kg in weight and looks so sad, all because of food that has massively slipped in quality (that doesn’t need testing, I can actually see the difference in the food). I’ve kept one pack of each of the 4 proteins she was having, to potentially have these independently tested for bone quantity. No pup should ever have to experience all that my little girl has been through (and continues to go through) these last 2 weeks. Needless to say the remainder of our supply has been binned (along with my daughter’s dog also having been fed Durhams, but that was switched the day we received the news that my girl had a complete bone blockage). I will never again feed this food to any dog and am sharing our experience on any and all groups, along with just word of mouth to family/friends to try and prevent anyone going through a similar situation. I am just glad I trusted my gut, I didn’t accept constipation as an answer and pushed for the scans that may well have made all the difference to her still being with me.

My dogs love the food from here, the prices are decent and won't ruin the bank, there isn't one meat which they have tried and didn't like, they do treats and a few other bits and bobs for your pets, there is room to move around the …

We were camping over weston way for a week and needed more raw food so popped in. Very pleasantly surprised! There is a huge variety here and the lady at the desk was very knowledgeable and helpful with our dogs needs as he had an upset …

Huge selection of healthy foods, chews, treats and supplements etc. The prices are very reasonable. The staff are highly knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. We plan to keep buying from here indefinitely.