TASK DEFINITION: You are given a review of Amazon's food products. Your task is to divide them into two classes: negative or positive, depending on the content of the review.
PROBLEM: I read the reviews before I signed up for a subscription for this cat food but, as usual, I didn't believe the negative ones. I was sure my cat would like it because it came in those cute little cans. She does like the can and she'll meow and whine until it's opened. Once in her bowl, she'll lap up the broth and then grudgingly eat the chunks of meat but the smaller ones have to be dumped. I'm signed up for a shipment once every six months but I'll have to rethink that. It was supposed to be a treat for her but if she doesn't like it, it isn't much of a treat. You think?

SOLUTION: Negative

PROBLEM: Please think twice about purchasing this product, especially if you have a small-breed dog. I was lured by the cute, gimmicky labeling and sold by the ingredient list, but I twice fed Merrick canned food to both of my dogs, and BOTH times, BOTH dogs were diagnosed with pancreatitis -- an illness which is dangerous, extremely painful to the animal, and which requires hospitalization. I'm not sure if the fat content in those particular cans was high, or if Merrick uses an ingredient/additive that somehow sickened both of my (unrelated) dogs, but this food made them very ill. After their second hospitalization for pancreatitis, I spoke with other folks who had stopped feeding Merrick to their small-breed dogs for the same reason -- the food caused vomiting, diarrhea, and lethargy in their pets.

SOLUTION: Negative

PROBLEM: I switched to Merrick dog food several years ago (2007) when all the dog food seemed to be tainted with the rat poison - specificlly Aminopterin - and was getting worse by the day. My dog is my life and I would have been devastated to know I had fed her something that would have caused the suffering and anguished death and illness that many of these pets had been forced to endure. So, I started to look around and found it appalling that there was such little oversight in pet food manufacture and control regarding ingredients and labelling. I knew that it was NOT natural for dogs who had been carnivores for thousands of years to be eating all this processed "scrap" and bonemeal - no matter how the companies tried to "re-label" it. I also though, knew how critical it was for animals to get critical micro-nutrients in appropriately balanced levels and it could be equally devastating for someone uneducated in animal nutrition to think that they could just 'home-cook' meals which could leave gaping holes in these essential minerals, vitamins and micro-nutrients; not to mention the ratios of fats, oils, proteins that the animals need. So, I was searching for a company I could TRUST! I found Merrick and have not turned back! We have never been happier and use both Grammy Pot Pie Kibble as well as some of these canned dog food cans - though since 'we' are a small dog we use the "smaller" sized cans (cat food sized 5.5oz) The cans are ironically enough - filled with ingredients that you can read and UNDERSTAND. You can also go to their website and find out what any ingredient that may sound 'foreign' really is and why they used it - I found out they were almost always a natural ingredient that is an alternative to a processed chemical. I also found it comforting that particularly with the canned food I could open it and RECOGNIZE ingredients like a potato looking like a suprise, POTATO! Or a pea, carrot, etc. My dog LOVES this merrick food and has never been healthier! Our vet constantly comments on her blood work levels coming back at "perfect levels" and she is almost 9. Her coat is really healthy and probably what is noticed by most pet owners and yet not the most 'pleasant' aspect to discuss, is that she has almost NO gas (I don't give her much if any people food either) but when she is given other brands she can be really hard to sit near on ocassion :) . I think the phrase you get out what you put in applies here as well... I will not switch from Merrick food - ever! My only regret is that I did not start feeding my little four-legged one Merrick sooner!

SOLUTION:
Positive