California Naturals Chicken & Rice

Seems to have changed their formula. After making the switch from Purina One Chicken and Rice to Cal. Naturals Chicken and Rice, I noticed a remarkable difference in all of the kitties coats, etc. Thing were going along great - everyone eating good, looking good, pooping good - then bam! About 3 months into this, someone started pooping in odd places. Looked like the culprit had diarrhea. With 13 kitties it's difficult to try to determine which one had the problem. I suspected me eldest because of location, but I started being a poop spy. It was him, but in my watching, I noticed the other seemed to be having litter box troubles. Poops were runny sometimes, and hard others - ah, not diarrhea, but constipation. But why? So I went to buy more food yesterday and was taking a look at CN Herring and Sweet Potato and comparing it to the CN Chicken and Rice. Going down the label, I noticed that the fiber difference was 2% - CN C&R 1.5% and CN H&SP is 3.5%. I thought to myself - I don't think that I would ever have bought something as low in fiber as 1.5%. So, this morning I was looking at an old empty smaller, plastic bag I kept from CN C&R and I noticed something. Seems when CN changed the packaging of the C&R, they also changed the formula. Old formula had listed Chicken, then Brown Rice, then other stuff. New Formula lists Chicken, Brown Rice, Rice, then other stuff. Fiber content changed from 3.5% to 1.5%. I noticed that there were some other changes also further down the list of ingredients as well. Calories have changed as well.

So, here is my question - - is there a significant enough difference in the digestability and fiber between brown rice and white rice to cause tummy/poop issues?

My 3 year old will be waking momentarily, so I don't have time to type out complete list of ingredients of each, but will try to do that on Wednesday or later this week.

Any thoughts? Any others out there feeding CN C&R notice any poop differences? Any others feeding the Herring & SP formula? I don't think that any of mine have any allergies, but because I was feeding Purina C&R before, it made sense to go to something similar, except for more natural. I tried others, but none of the others went over well with everyone.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Happy New Year to everyone.

Florence

I just opened a bag of the new one. I hope I don't have problems because I have one cat that is very sensitive and the California Natural Chicken and Rice was working really well. They didn't have 8lb packages either so I bought two 5lb packages. Thankfully the pet store I buy it from is good about allowing full credit for exchanging food and they have a wide variety of premium foods, I just hope I don't have to go through that again.

That is really low in fiber. I bought a bag of this the other day and didn't bother reading the label since I already researched it on their website where it still says 3.2 %. I'll have to watch out for any problems since they are used to a food higher in fiber.

chn and rice added white rice a yr or so ago but that would actually help ... the herring one has barley which contains the SAME gluten protein as wheat and rye

have you gone to the vet??

No, I haven't gone to the vet. This particular kitty, although he started off life as a domestic born kitten, acts more feral than my ferals most of the time. The vet I use will make house calls, but even that stresses the poor thing so much that he'll hide for weeks after. And, trying to get him into a cat carrier - -not a chance! He firmly plants all four feet on the sides of the entrance fighting as hard as he can. Sort of like trying to cage a miniture tazmania devil!

Since the CN Herring and Sweet Potato is higher in fiber and not that much different in protein and fat, do you think that it would require a slow transition period? Would just mixing the two together work to add fiber? I've tried pumpkin and they won't eat it - - even with a little butter warmed up. Tried plain yogurt and no go with that either.

Any suggestions of another food that comes in Chicken and Rice that is about the same as CN in protein and fat only with more fiber? The youngest I have is 7 and the oldest is 14 and they were used to getting a bit more fiber, so I'd like to find something with more fiber in it.

What about perhaps sprinkling metamucil powder over the kibbles?

actually you may want a senior formula since your feeding dry ... they are lower in protein and moderate to high fat than all stage but they are usually easier to digest and have the right % for an older cat of other items plus many have jt support

you can do the metamucil thing I did that many yr s ago with my current dog .... i now use apple pectin and slippery elm

Thanks, Sharky. Where does one buy apple pectin? Is it powder or liquid.

I got a powder ( well capsules I open .. human health food store

Cool. Thanks for the tip.

I wrote to CN to ask about the addition of white rice to their forumula as some of my kitties had suddenly become constipated after doing so well on CN Chicken and Rice.

Here is their reply:

Dear pet lover,

Thank you for contacting us about our products. Natura uses whole white and brown rice, which are the most easily digested grains and the least likely to cause allergic reactions. The reason we use both brown and white rice is the fiber content. If we used brown rice solely, the total fiber level would be very high which would affect stool volume and lower digestibility. The percentage of brown rice and the percentage of white rice is proprietary information. The brown rice in the formula is ground brown rice.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information or if you have any questions.

Veronica Moreno
Natura Pet Products
800-532-7261


I know that if you feed a dog or a cat (or a human for that matter) a diet with 1.5% fiber content and then a diet with 10% fiber content, that stool output is going to greatly increase. But come on a 2% difference? I would certainly rather sift a few more deposits from the litter boxes than have constipated kitties. Is it just me or is 3.5% fiber a reasonable amount? 1.5 seems very low. The rep who responded makes it sound like when they were using only brown rice that it was not very digestible and caused massive litter box output. I never experience either, so I'm sort of perplexed.

florence

PS - They deleted a couple of things and added a couple of things to the ingredient list. I'll post that under a new post when I get both typed up.

white rice digestabilty is 75-90%
brown rice is 50-70%

but why not add something else to make up the fiber loss? Isn't 1.5% kind of low?

Following up on another post. Have been feeding CN C&R for a while and things had been going well, until recently. Took a list at the ingredients on the new bag and it seems they've changed their formula and the fiber dropped from 3.5% to 1/5% which has make some of my kitties constipated. A couple of other things have been added/deleted as well, so I've typed up old ingredients and new ingredients in the lists below for any that might be using this. Both are for California Naturals Chicken and Brown Rice

Old Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural source of vitamin E), Sunflower Oil, Flaxseed, Natural Flavors, Taurine, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Asorbic Acid, DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Niacin, d Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamine B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin) Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Potassium Iodide)

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein\t36.0%
Crude Fat, minimum\t16.0%
Crude Fiber, maximum\t3.5%
Moisture, maximum\t10.0%
Linoleic, minimum\t3.0%
Arachidonic Acid\t0.05%
Vitamin E, minimum\t250 IU/kg
Magnesium, maximum\t0.12%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids, minimum\t0.3%


New Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Rice Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Natural Flavors, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Flaxseed, Vitamins ( Vitamin E Supplement, Betaine Hydrochloride, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Beta-Carontene, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid), Potassium Chloride, Minerals ( Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Calcium Iodate), Taurine, DL-Methionin, Rosemary Extract

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein\t36.0%
Crude Fat, minimum\t16.0%
Crude Fiber, maximum\t1.5%
Moisture, maximum\t10.0%
Vitamin E, minimum\t300 IU/kg
Magnesium, maximum\t0.12%
Taurine, minimum\t0.1%
Omega 3 Fatty Acids, minimum\t0.25%


Missing from Guaranteed Analysis in NEW formula:

Linoleic, minimum\t3.0%
Arachidonic Acid\t0.05%


Florence

yeah IMHO it is since ave is 3-5%

Thank you so much for posting this.

My kitty has been doing great on the old CalNat formula (after much searching). The local pet store owner warned this was happening and I forgot all about it! I have an 8 lb bag and it takes here awhile to get thru it.

What do you think after reading the new ingredient breakdown? Still good? I'm afraid to try anything new-new.

it is more digestable but the fiber IMHO is low

several of mine have become constipated. Like you, I searched and searched for one everyone liked before deciding on this one. I guess I might have to go back to square one.

Sharky/Others - - is there anything out there this is similar to this as far as simple ingredient go and is chicken based that might be higher in fiber that you could recommend?

Florence

I missed your other thread Florance till after I posted.
good information - thank you so much

depend s Natural choice is similiar .. no brown rice but has corn gluten for UTI health
http://nutroproducts.com/ncccdry-adult.shtml that is the reg adult

I've merged the 2 threads started by the OP re same subject.