Updated review on Innova Evo food.

Well, the kitties (and doggies) have been on EVO for quite a while now (about 3 months), and I thought I'd post a quick update on how I think it's going with this food.

CATS- They're doing okay. Smaller poops, less litter box waste. Bad breath. Ripley is still having trouble with dandruff. Personally, I don't see much of a significant difference in regards to anything that would justify the high cost of this food with my cats. No miracles to report here.

DOGS- Both Melvin and Puppy have lost weight on Innova, which is good...both were a couple of chubs. Melvin still has terribly dry skin, and on the other hand, Puppy's skin issues seem to be clearing up. Bizarre poops...Melvin's today on our walk was HUGE, and bright GREEN, and semi-runny. Both dogs are farting constantly, and are both quite stinky. I would think after 3 months, the gas wouldn't be as much of an issue, but unfortunately, it is.

My overall opinion (for at least my situation), is that Innova has not done a lot for my animals, we've paid a lot of money to feed it to them, and it just isn't showing us any outstanding results for the price. Are they crazy about the taste of EVO? Well, Captain Steuben likes it, and Melvin likes it...but Ripley doesn't seem to love it, nor does Fergus.

Looks like we're going to start transitioning back to Nutro and Chicken Soup.

intresting update.. typical for this food in appr 50% of cases

Interesting review.

I'm feeding my kitties EVO at the moment. Overall, they seem to like it, and the smaller/drier poops are nicer to clean up.

However, Ebony has probably been eating it for about 5 months -- I thought it may be helpful for weight loss (because it has no grains), but her weight seems to have increased quite a lot...

It is interesting. Definately shows that all foods aren't good for all animals! Nutro is a really good food too though, so I'm glad you have that to fall back on. I've had the opposite experience with Evo. My cats are thriving. Jake gained back his final few pounds from when he was sick, his fur has started growing in pretty thick again and fast (he lost it all when he was sick) and we have no gas and no bad breath. I dare say my cats have more energy too. Oh yeah ... and here I don't pay anymore for the Evo then I do for the Nutro. Guess I'm lucky!

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

It is interesting. Definately shows that all foods aren't good for all animals! Nutro is a really good food too though, so I'm glad you have that to fall back on. I've had the opposite experience with Evo. My cats are thriving.... and we have no gas and no bad breath. I dare say my cats have more energy too. Oh yeah ... and here I don't pay anymore for the Evo then I do for the Nutro. Guess I'm lucky!

Click to expand...

Same here, my 4 love EVO, Scully has continued to lose weight while eating it and they have soft shiny fur and less dandruff. A while back, Matt thought about switching them back as EVO was getting hard to find around here, they were not impressed at the switch and the dandruff alone was enough to make us drive into the next town to get EVO.

I just put my two non-raw girls on Evo. I can't really contribute to how it turns out in the long run, but I don't have any issues with dandruff. I think, however, that one of the things I read about Evo was that it had a really low moisture content. If that's the case.. those that are seeing increased dandruff might be due to lack of water. Ours have a running kitty fountain to drink from, and they all suck down water like there's no tomorrow because they like it. I probably won't see that issue from them, if low moisture is what's causing it.

Hoping they lose a bit of weight. They're eating less of it than they ate of the prior drys. I don't know if they're eating enough less to justify the calorie upgrade or not. We'll see, but eventually, I want them eating an actual raw diet.. if they start gaining on this one, though, I'll put them on a limited time feeding schedule and see how that works.

Now, the place that's closest to me is 19.99 for a 3.5 bag. I was paying about $15 or around that, for a 4-5 pound container of ProPlan. I think they went through the Proplan faster..this 3.5 bag has lasted.. almost two weeks with the two non-raw girls eating it, and with a bit of help from the raw girl.. since she munches in between raw meals.

I've often wondered if feeding Evo makes for a small cat?http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/ima...s/confused.gif My Bindi isnt very large at all, healthy but not large.

Originally Posted by icklemiss21

A while back, Matt thought about switching them back as EVO was getting hard to find around here, they were not impressed at the switch and the dandruff alone was enough to make us drive into the next town to get EVO.

Click to expand...

@ driving to the next town to get it!

Do you feed the wet? That's what I'm feeding my brood. And I'm SOOOOO glad they are doing well on it! I feel like I don't have to fight to keep Jake's weight up anymore. It must just be more balanced (unless of course, it doesn't agree with a cat such as wookies case) because Jake was underweight and is just right now and others whose cats were overweight seem to be leveling off.

I know, and there isn't even store kitties at that store either!

No, I have given up trying to feed them separately and Bumper pukes from even sniffing wet and Magnum is fussy and will only eat Fancy Feast so Bumps has some quality time with his mummy in the evenings while the others get their fancy feast. Then they all get EVO dry.

Thinking about it though, when we tried EVO wet, I think they all turned their noses up at it as I remember it didn't look great (even for catfood)

There is one food that Bumps can eat occasionally without the puking fiesta which is Active Life chicken fricassee but again Magnum won't eat it and they insist on having a little from each plate and I would never get away with feeding Bumper wet separately, Boomer would smell it and break the door down

Scully has lost 9lbs while eating EVO and Boomer gained those much needed lbs so I completely agree that it seems balanced, but I know there are alot of cats that just don't take to it well also.

Originally Posted by mzjazz2u

@ driving to the next town to get it!

Click to expand...

Umm, I drive to the next town for my cat food too.

I feed the wet EVO, although not every day...just rotated among others. But mine all really like the taste. It does look nasty...I think they like it because it has that "grocery store food" texture, and I like it because it's *not* grocery store food.

I am glad to see a review post on the Evo. Because I have seen the comments about it being too rich for some kitties, and some talk about avoiding it for older kitties so I like to see what others are experiencing.

My three and the neighbor cat (who lives here I guess) are free fed on the dry Evo and who ever's interested gets wet Wellness or Merricks one meal a day. None of them care very much for the wet Evo. Only Bucky will take wet food regularly, and that is dependant on whether or not her majesty likes the flavor being served.

They are all doing well on the current menu; no bowel, breath, coat or dandruff problems, and they are all healthy. Before we started the Evo, we mainly fed the Wellness dry and I thought they did very well on that too, I'm just more impressed by Evo's ingredients. I still throw in the dry Wellness every now and again for variety.

I highly recommend the Evo for those kitties who can tolerate it if you can fit it into your budget.

I fed EVO to Twitch & Lily. Twitch gained weight(good), her coat got silky, her poops were great. Lily gained weight(bad), her coat got greasy, she pooped 6 dozen times a day & it smelled like something died.

It is tempting to switch back to EVO because the pet store I get to more often is no longer carrying regular Innova. But, I don't know that I want to try that experiement again, Lily was gross!

Originally Posted by lakeriedog

I highly recommend the Evo for those kitties who can tolerate it if you can fit it into your budget.

Click to expand...

Exactly ... great food for the ones that can...

Originally Posted by beandip

Umm, I drive to the next town for my cat food too.

I feed the wet EVO, although not every day...just rotated among others. But mine all really like the taste. It does look nasty...I think they like it because it has that "grocery store food" texture, and I like it because it's *not* grocery store food.

Click to expand...

Glad to know we all spend alot time getting the "kids " food .... I go up to 70 miles rd trip for treats...

Originally Posted by white cat lover

I fed EVO to Twitch & Lily. Twitch gained weight(good), her coat got silky, her poops were great. Lily gained weight(bad), her coat got greasy, she pooped 6 dozen times a day & it smelled like something died.

It is tempting to switch back to EVO because the pet store I get to more often is no longer carrying regular Innova. But, I don't know that I want to try that experiement again, Lily was gross!

Click to expand...

Is that the store you get NP medallions from>?>?? if so you may want to try the Raw instict

Raw Instinct was a no go. Twitch flat out refused to eat it after awhile. My local pet store carries EVO & is now crrying "my" raw medallions, too. But, there is a much cleaner, nicer pet store to go to an hour away & they now no longer carry Innova. They basically carry Nutro, Euk, SD, & Solid Gold. I am bummed that they aren't stocking good stuff anymore.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Raw Instinct was a no go. Twitch flat out refused to eat it after awhile. My local pet store carries EVO & is now crrying "my" raw medallions, too.

But, there is a much cleaner, nicer pet store to go to an hour away & they now no longer carry Innova. They basically carry Nutro, Euk, SD, & Solid Gold. I am bummed that they aren't stocking good stuff anymore.

Click to expand...

they have some good stuff ... but yeah I prefer a upper end mix ...
Solid gold is coming out with one

You can get a number of pet foods from www.petfooddirect.com including Evo.. it's about the same price for the food, but you do pay for the shipping. It makes it slightly more expensive, but honestly, you might be spending more in gas to go get it from a store if you have to drive to the next town. I think there are some other websites you can order online from too. If I find more (looking currently for myself), I'll post them.